Horrible Human Beings
by theblacksheepwriter
Summary: <html><head></head>Stiles is gay and he has a problem, he always falls for the wrong kind of guys, the ones that are confused and don't know who they really are, after his last heartbreak and bottoming out he and his friends decide that is time to do something about these guys, to show the world who they really are and expose them before society, but things get a little complicated when they start to</html>
1. Chapter 1

CRUSH

It all started as a joke, well actually revenge. I was at cinematography dying of boredom as usual, my chin resting on my palm and my eyes lost in the nothingness. Next to me Derek wrote at high speed everything Mr. Perry was Saying, which was stupid considering that half of the class was about his grandson and his adventures, like that one day when he bit their dog pretending be one. Bullshit he just wanted to bring the little gremlin to class and make us love him as much as he did. Anyway I desperately needed something to wake me up and it happened almost immediately, my phone rang and I shoved my hands in my pockets and tugged it out.

Mr. Perry didn't mind, well actually he didn't notice, I wasn't the only one with my phone in hand during the class, everybody was doing it, everybody but Derek of course.

"I miss you"

Said the text

I held my breath and slowly let it out in a low and muffled sigh while my cheeks burned.

Derek Jabbed me in the ribs, but his eyes were still on the board, though his ears were definitely with me, then his brow crests as if he were asking me a question, and I supposed he was asking about Isaac. Derek didn't like Isaac and I couldn't get the reason, but every time I talked about what Isaac and I did the day before he changed the subject or glared at me when I didn't want to shut up, he wasn't jealous of course he was straight and… well he was a little concerned about me, because according to him Isaac was the worst kind of person you can ever meet, the ones who never knows who they really are, the ones that say I love you and don't mean it because they don't know what it means, because the only thing they love is themselves and the fact that everybody loves them.

Anyway I met Isaac at a freshmen party atΩΧΔ when no one knew me so I still wasn't an outcast. I was next to the table handing Derek a red cup, it was so hard for me to drag him there, but Hey! We weren't at high school anymore and if we really wanted the things to be different we need to start doing all differently.

So there we were trying to keep it cool, until Derek couldn't hold it back anymore and began with his cynic talk about college parties, jocks and pregnant high school girls, and then it happened, someone just burst in laughs next to us and a skinny girl approached, she was short with skin as white as snow, bright and outlined bottle-green eyes and wearing purple lipstick, a Goth, oh Hell!.

She came up with a comment about her stupid friends dragging her to the party and then they both chuckled and their eyes sparkled, I could see it even behind Derek's glasses, oh God, they clicked!

When I heard her name I almost chocked with whatever I was drinking I mean, Allison? Really? What about Graveyard's princess or endless nightmare? Well I overreacted a little, actually Allison was pretty cool, but when she started to fidget with her hair while she talked to Derek I knew it was time for me to go, because they would be pretty busy in matter of minutes eating each other's mouths.

I wandered around watching the slutty freshmen-girls flirting with the jocks, far at the end of the yard were crowded some dorks, staring at everybody with frightened faces, why they went to the party in the first place? It was hilarious and sad at the same time. Anyway I didn't risk to approach too much to them and rather hike through the place, it was autumn so the air was brisk, the trees naked and their leaves were all scattered on the ground, some yellow others red and orange and brown the most wilted ones, it was sad I didn't got my camera with me, I would have taken some really cool pictures that afternoon.

It was almost midnight when I decided to get back to the dorm, my little social experiment was an official failure, I might make fun all that I wanted of the nerds but deep inside I knew I was just like them, never mind, I couldn't find Derek anywhere neither his car, apparently miss apathy took him somewhere to join some racist sect, exchange saliva or whatever crazy shit straight people do. So I headed out of the party hoping to not find them having sex in my bed, when it happened. I was walking down the empty campus when I glanced down and saw a dark shape leaning against a tree, at first I thought it was a homeless guy but a closer look showed me that it actually was Isaac Lahey, one of the jocks I saw getting drunk hours ago, and actually I was right, he did got drunk.

I reached close to him, his eyes were closed and with every breath a strong reek of alcohol filled the air, almost making me gag ok he wasn't drunk he was wasted. Anyway what was doing of the coolest guys in laws alone in the middle of the square in that ice-cold night?

"Hey" I said kneeling in front of him.

He had olive skin, short brown hair a broad chest and… shockingly tempting pink lips a little swollen but that only made them more appealing, I shook my head, Oh god! I was a creep I couldn't believe I really considered kissing a fainted jerk, it was one of those one life's chances I wasn't going to take it.

"Hey" I repeated shaking him by his shoulder.

His eyes fluttered open slowly and his head started swaying as if he was trying to look at me straight –ha! Funny-

"Are you okay?" I asked, which was stupid considering the intoxicated state in which he was.

He groaned.

"Are you hurt? Do you need help?"

After not getting response, I shoved my hand in my pocket to get my phone but suddenly felt the brush of his frozen fingers reaching my arm and holding it down, I wasn't sure why but I felt hotness spreading in my body and climbing to my cheeks.

"I'm fine, I'm just… a piece…of shit…so I'm going to…" He tried to say while he almost drifted away, but I grabbed him by his shoulders.

"You need to get your dorm or you're gonna freeze your ass to death"

I wasn't kidding, I could see our breaths, he wouldn't make it do dawn.

"I…I…" He mumbled struggling to stand.

His knees bent and he fell, I was faster –but not stronger- and managed to catch him before his forehead hit the ground. I hauled him up and put his arm over my shoulder.

"Where is your dorm?" I said hopping he wouldn't drift away again and take me down with him.

He didn't reply, maybe I should have left him there, I mean, what in the hell was I going to do? I couldn't just take him to my dorm, right? I would be awkward to spend the night with an unknown guy a frigging hot unknown guy, but… what other choice did I have?

Forty minutes, it took me unbelievable forty minutes to walk three hallways to get him in my dorm! I had to stop a couple of times to catch some air, to not mention the three times my arms flailed and I let him fall. Most of the dorms were quiet and dark, though there were a few were you could hear a moan, but it wasn't a big thing.

I dropped him next to the door to take out my keys and make sure my dorm was empty before taking him in, unfortunately it wasn't, as I was expecting Mr. Cynic ass and his graveyard's princess were busy in their stuffs inside, luckily for me, it wasn't in my bed. They both broke apart when I turned on the light and stared at me astonished, I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach, poor Derek, he hadn't much action in his life, well I hadn't either but that didn't mean I had the right to ruin the fun for him.

"Dude!" Derek growled, his face reddened quickly while Allison fastened the quilt to hide her boobs, "You have to knock first!" Reproached.

"To get into my room?" I snorted scooting to drag Isaac inside –my arms wouldn't bear to take him up again, and I still had to get him in my bed-

"Wa…wait… who is this guy?" he asked openmouthed looking at me as if I just kidnaped the poor bastard.

"He is Isaac Lahey, he is in laws" Allison said shocked putting on her pink? Bra, and getting out of the bed.

"I'm really sorry, I just couldn't leave him like this, he was going to die out there" I apologized.

She approached to help me with one arm and drag him in.

Derek put one his Power Rangers pajamas –Yeah he was a total loser- and helped us haul Isaac onto the bed. After that Allison left but not without kissing in the cheek making them both to burn, she said goodbye to me and I apologized again for cockblocking them, she said it didn't matter because I was a good guy for saving Isaac.

When the door closed behind her Derek glared at me.

"What?" I said frowning.

"What in the hell crossed your mind when you decided to bring a drunk guy in my room?" He said sharply.

"Your room? It is mine too and I had no choice, he can't remember his name" I protested.

"Dude! It was my chance to get laid, I can't remember when was the last time I did it and your ruined it just because you want to screw up with some guy you don't even know!" Derek reproaches angrily.

A cold knife came through my chest. "I'm not doing anything with him!" I said feeling the anger scorching me deep inside.

"Isn't that what your people do?" He asked spitting lots of saliva like a ravage dog.

I felt the urgency to launch myself over him and kick his ass, but instead I approached my bed.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked, his cheeks redder than before, it seemed like he got what he just said.

"I'm gonna wake him up! We're gonna sleep in a bench or something, and don't worry I'm gonna ask a dorm change tomorrow morning, who knows? Maybe they'll put with one of my people this time!" I grunted irate.

"Don't be stupid, that's not what I meant" He said with a shaky voice, "I just…Forget it okay? I just said something stupid because I was angry, that's all!"

I was so mad at him and I was definitely going to request being transferred the next morning, I mean, what the hell was wrong with him? Eighteen years of friendship and we still had that kind of arguing at least twice in a year, I took Isaac's shoes off and let him peacefully resting in my bed and turned on my heels.

The sofa was stacked with books and some clothes, I took them off while Derek got back in his bed.

"What are you doing?" He asked staring at me puzzled.

"Trying to get some sleep" I replied greeting my teeth.

"Stiles come one, you know you can't sleep in there come to the bed and stop acting like a kid"

I was acting like a kid? He had to be kidding me, shit! I was pretty uncomfortable in the sofa but I definitely wasn't going to get in his bed, I was really mad at him and plus Allison's and his asses were naked in that every bed just minutes ago, so I pretended a snoring and closed my eyes. Derek called me a couple of times and then gave up and after half an hour or so and I finally fell fast asleep.

When I opened my eyes the next morning, Isaac was gone, and my room stench like a distillery, every inch of my body ached and I just wanted to get some rest in my bed. For no reason I had and emotional hangover, I felt like I did something stupid by bringing Isaac to my room, he probably thought I was a creep or something and then was Derek, the anger still flared in my chest but… Was I really going to drop eighteen years of friendship just because of it? Of course it was a big thing, but it chockblocked him and he admitted he was wrong already so….

Derek came in from the bathroom when I was standing up, he was naked from the waist up and smelled like lavender soap, he sat next to me and apologized at least ten times as he said what a good friend I've been all this years and a good person for saving Isaac from freezing his ass to death. After I accepted his apology with clenched teeth he invited me to watch a movie with Allison and him that afternoon but I said no, I ruined their first date –If you can call it that- it was better if I stayed away for a while to not make them feel uncomfortable or cockblock them again, and I was pretty tired anyway and need to get some rest, real rest, so after Derek left to have breakfast with Allison I got into my bed that still smelled as Isaac's cologne and alcohol –I definitely needed to wash my pillow as soon as possible or I wasn't going to be able to get his scent out of my mind- and tried to get some sleep.

I was pretty sure I didn't put the latch on the door before going to sleep, so when they knocked I wished I was still mad at Derek so I could smack him in the head for forgetting his keys, again!

The door was knocked again and I pulled out of bed and approached it in long strides, with the rage burning me inside but when I opened the door it instantly faded, being replaced by a sudden uneasiness, embarrassment made my heart leap or maybe it was something else, because Isaac, yeah! That Isaac! Was standing in my doorway, a clean and shaved Isaac that looked like a Greek god, with intense avocado eyes, and chiseled features, a knot was tied in the pit of my stomach.

"Um… Hi" He said uneven and a little ashamed.

Oh god! A guy like him shouldn't blush in front of someone like me, but he did.

"I brought you this"

After that I managed to get my eyes off of his and watch at his broad arms carrying a beagle's paper bag and a latte that smelled spicy, my tummy groaned and I flushed.

"I didn't know what you like and I just…"

"I like it, thanks" I hurried to say, taking the bag and the latte.

"I should be the one thanking you after what you did for me" He mumbled staring at my feet.

"It was nothing, you would have do the same" I replied with a grin but by the look in his eyes I assumed that he wouldn't.

"Anyway, you're a good guy, thanks for everything" He finished and turned on his heels.

"Wait!" I stopped him not sure of what the hell I was doing "Are you okay?" I asked, and he tilted his head staring at me shocked.

"I don't want to be noisy, I just… I mean, you said something last night pretty worrying and I don't mean you have to talk to me but I would listen…" Oh god Stiles! Just shut up! Shut up! "I mean you should talk to your friends or someone" great word vomit, so embarrassing.

"I…" He started, stating at me puzzled, looking at me as if I was an Alien, but then… he started to tell me what happened to him.

So to make the story short, Mr. Lahey–I'm not talking about Isaac but his dad and maybe his uncles- is one of the country's most respected lawyers, and he had been pushing his son too hard since he was at high school, Isaac liked laws and everything related to it, but he was having a hard time lately with some of his classes –most of them- so his family started to turn the back on him, and that day before the party Mr. Lahey got drunk when Isaac was visiting them and said all this stuffs about him embarrassing the whole family with his grades.

It was astonishing, he seemed pretty affect because of what his dad said and I wondered how he could? He was pure muscle and awesomeness, even his sad face was hot! It just didn't make sense, how could this kind of guy have actual feelings? I still don't know the answer to that question, I mean, I feel like sometimes they don't and it is just part of their game but then… Oh God! You will see what I meant a little more ahead and I promise you'll be as confused as I was in that situation.

So basically Isaac needed a shoulder in which rely on and I lacked of enough problems in my life –actually I didn't- and that's how our story began.

After that Derek came back and Isaac left embarrassed telling me to excuse him but he had to study for Monday and that was it, I didn't see him in two weeks, he just vanished and it was stupid look for him, he would think that I was a stalker, it wasn't like I was going to show up in his dorm and say, Hey dude how's everything? Are your dad still being an ass? Do you need to talk to me? NO! I had to face it, that little intimacy moment was a rare thing and I couldn't push it, it didn't matter how hard I wanted to see him and his chiseled features, the destiny didn't seem to agree with me, at least not in the beginning.

Two weeks later I was going out of one of production workflow getting ready to take some pictures of the landscape for my photography class when I stumbled with someone and all my things ended up in the floor.

"Oh Hey!" A familiar voice said right after I threw myself on the floor, to pick up my stuff, something squirmed inside me after I heard that voice.

I glance up startled, it was him! A knot tied in my stomach, yeah, again!

"Hey" I replied casually, though I was really thrilled inside.

He knelt to help me pick up my things when our hands met at the tickets for that night's movie.

"Wow" He said enthusiastic "Fearless" Read the name in the ticket.

I gaped.

"Do you know it?" I asked feeling a warm feeling spreading through my body.

"Yeah, I loved the book I didn't know they were shooting a movie" Said shocked.

Fearless was one my favorite YA novels, about a normal girl who finds out that her world is a computer simulation and falls in love with a reckless guy, it had a lot of romance but it was mostly action and blood, yeah forget about musicals, I wasn't that kind of walking cliché, anyway Derek and I got the tickets a couple of days before, yeah that was our thing, wait long hours in lines to get tickets to watch awesome movies based on our favorite books.

"Do you think I could go with you tonight?" He asked and then grinned, and my stomach plunged down, he…wanted to go with me, to…have a date?

"Yes!' I said quickly and with a big smile, oh damn! I was making a fool of myself. "I mean, if you want to go it's cool for me" I hurried to say to not sound as desperate as I was, I still couldn't believe he liked fearless and that we both were watching the movie that night!

I spent the whole afternoon after class trying different outfits hoping to find one that didn't make me look so scrawny, maybe I should had joined Derek in the gym as he had been doing since we got into collage, actually he was starting to gain so muscle already, but I couldn't handle it, it was too much pain for a human to bear, to not mention that most of the guys in that gym were pretty hot and if I had a boner in front of them it would be so humiliating.

I gave up by six when Derek got in the dorm ready to get a bath and found me staring at myself in the mirror near to a pile of discarded clothes.

There isn't much to mention about that night, besides the fact that we missed the first two minutes because Derek skipped one stop and we got fined. Isaac was already there waiting for us, he greeted Derek and Allison and we all got inside to watch the movie. Isaac sat next to me of course and it was a little awkward, I couldn't concentrate in the movie because I knew the hottest guy in the world was right next to me, breathing the same air as I. The movie was pretty much like the book thought they changed some little details but it wasn't a big thing.

After the movie Isaac asked me my number, and I had to make a big effort to not giggle in front of him, I still wasn't sure about him and how he felt about me so I couldn't let myself do anything stupid and ruin everything.

That night he texted me! Can you believe it? Well you better do, because it is the truth. He asked me if I wanted to hang out with him the next day after his football practice, I obviously agreed and had a full night sleep, thought I woke up a couple of times to check up if he had texted again.

The next day I met him in the playing field after his practice, all that tight and sweat drenched uniform, the dirt on his face and the grass on his chest it was… hard, to not stare.

"Hey you look good" He said when he saw me approaching him.

Yeah I know! He said I looked good! He said it!

I flushed, well I didn't flush I turned into a freaking tomato, but who cared? He thought I looked good, anyway the things didn't come as expected, he forgot he had to study for a test he had the next day, so he apologized said he would text me and left.

That "I will text you" lasted two days, yeah I didn't get any news from him in two days, during those days I was tempted to text him but I didn't want to look like a stalker, Oh crap! I was losing my mind, anyway, he texted me to meet him in the pizza place down the avenue, I went feeling a little mad which was stupid because we were just friends, I asked him about his exam and his eyes darkened, he told me he didn't do it very well and after the test got out with his girlfriend to forget the whole thing, and plus they had been a little apart lately and he was a afraid he might lose her…. Yeah you read right, GIRLFRIEND! God! I was so stupid, I tried to look like it didn't hurt me, but hell it did, it definitely did.

He changed the subject and started telling me about the upcoming movies that we needed to see, he didn't go with to the movies with Kelly too often, apparently she wasn't a big fan of them, oh Kelly was staring to become my less favorite person in the world, they just went when they were displaying a romantic comedy, really? No zombies? No dead people? No psychological thriller? Oh I hated that bitch!

Later that night I got into my room with mixed feelings, in one hand was the fact that Isaac had a girl which meant he was straight but… there were things he did with me instead of his girlfriend because she didn't get his passions, -yeah! I'm talking about movies-, anyway I was sad and happy at the same time, pretty much the same way I felt every time we saw each other, hot and cold in my bones and a throbbing heart that almost chocked me every time his blinding smile beamed me.

Derek and Allison who have been playing scrabble when I got in stared at me frowning when I rejected joining them, -I always cheated in scrabbled but they seemed to like my personal repertory with words like bitchleader- so they asked me what was going on and I made the mistake of telling them the truth, they freaked out, mostly Derek because he knew all the crap I went through in high school, anyway they forbid me to see Isaac ever again, seriously, who the hell they thought they were? Derek started saying I couldn't do that to myself, and I didn't get why they were so stubborn about it, it wasn't my fault, how I could knew he was straight? Ain't like you just meet someone and say "Hi I'm straight" and I wasn't that sure he was fully heterosexual, and it was a huge mistake to mention it, it only made Derek freak out harder and start saying he couldn't believe I was really considering to live all that teenage crap all over again, at the end I just ignored them and got in bed thought deep inside I knew they were right and probably I shouldn't see Isaac ever again.

So the next day I went to see him to say goodbye, I know it is silly, I should had just forget about him and move on but I wanted to see him one last time, though I had no idea what I was going to say, his dorm was near the laws faculty which meant I had to walk a lot. Laws' dorms were just like the ones in my faculty except for the mess, most of the laws' dorms seemed pretty neat from the windows all fully organized, for a second I thought I was inside a Mormon's church and a shiver ran down my spine

I knocked his door and he automatically opened it for me, he was naked from the waist up and carried a book on his hands, oh god! He was like a hot Greek nerd god! My wet dream made true.

He smiled at me and I started to my heart pounding in my ears, did I really had to say goodbye? Maybe he was gay after all, or bisexual or at least heteroflexible, I couldn't just lose him, he was a good guy and a good friend!

"Oh sorry you're studying" I said happy to find an excuse to get the hell out of there.

"Don't worry I was already giving up when you knocked, I can't memorize all this stuffs, it is impossible" He said with a sad grin and something hit me in the gut.

"Have you tried transcribing them?" I asked before I could stop my mouth.

"Transcribing?" He frowned.

"Yeah, it's a thing I did when I had to memorize a lot of information at high school, I just wrote the whole thing over and over, and by the third, sometimes the fourth time I already recalled everything" I explained as he invited me in, his room was so clean! Made me feel so embarrassed because of mine.

"Are you sure it is going to work?" He asked beckoning me to join him in the bed, oh his bed!

"I'm sure it will work" I replied with a wide smile.

And that's how I ended up not only being a filmmaking student but also a laws one, I read a lot of laws and learned a lot of amazing stuffs like, you knew that the constitution establishes that we are all equal before the law? Yeah that means that gay people have rights too, how cool isn't it?, anyway, now I spent my days studying for my classes and Isaac's so I had a lot in mind, but in worth it, because it meant that we spent a lot of time together and eventually his grades rose up and I saw his smile more often.

One day he said to me that he told his parents about me and they were eager to know me, I felt so embarrassed. On weekends we watched shows or hanged out with Derek, Allison and her friends, bit a bit they chilled a lot about Isaac or at least tried to, but one in a time they came up with some comment about me ending up heartbroken, and I had to admit that they knew what they were talking about, I mean, I hadn't tell Isaac about my liking for dicks instead of pussies, but it was hard to just come up with the subject so randomly and out of the blue, and of course I hadn't either made much to stop him from thinking that I was dating one of Allison's friends, Rebecca –I like to call her Becca-, but it is just that I was scared okay? I kept thinking that if he found out about me he might not want to talk to me ever again, and I couldn't afford to lose him, he was the reason I woke up with a smile in the mornings and went to bed sighing.

On March Isaac told us to go a party he was invited, and introduced me his friends, and by the look they threw on Derek, Allison and me, they didn't like us much, but Allison's friends were a different story of course, in matter of seconds they were offering them drinks and trying to get into their panties. That night I was the only one who wasn't drinking, because it was my time to drive us home, so I was pretty bored watching them have fun. Isaac was at the other side of the party dancing with a slut, I felt so lonely and jealous but I wouldn't let that ruin my night, because Kelly didn't hang out with us that day so Isaac was free to dance with whoever he wanted.

I hated hanging out with Isaac and Candace. Being the third wheel of your crush isn't the best thing you could do in your life –listen to me, I know what I'm talking about-. Kelly was the most annoying human being in the world, I mean, she always had something bitchy to say about Isaac's clothes, or my taste in music, and she always complained, she complained about everything and everyone, like that one time in the pizza place when she said that we were so insensitive for eating carbohydrates in front of her, or that night the world almost exploded because Isaac didn't took her hand in the car, and I swear one time I heard her saying how annoying is to have to breath all the time, so yeah! She was a crazy bitch and I couldn't get how Isaac could stand her and be her boyfriend, seriously, Isaac was funny, sexy and sensitive but what really made my anger flare was to think in how she couldn't feel grateful of having the greatest guy in the world, didn't she know that anyone! Literally anyone! Would give anything to be with him?

Back in the party… Isaac kissed that girl with who he was dancing and something bitter climbed to the back of my throat accompanied by a lump that started choking me, I needed fresh air, unfortunately they were dancing next to the front door, so Isaac watched me getting out of the house and before I got a chance to even sit in the dimly lit porch, he was right next to me.

"Hey, what's going on? Are you leaving?" He asked with a tensed voice.

Oh, I wished I could, but someone needed to drive my drunk best friend and his graveyard's princess back home, so I shook my head.

"What are you doing here then?" He asked dragging the words out I noticed it, he was as drunk as the night we met, he couldn't his head from swaying.

So, let's make and exercise, pretend to be me in that situation, what would you say? Well, I'm gonna tell you what I thought I should say, I was going to say "because I'm bored" or "because I'm not feeling well I think I need to go home" but of course that was one of those times when my mouth was faster than my head and I ended up saying things I shouldn't had.

"Why you had to kiss that slu…girl?"

I hoped he didn't notice what I almost said.

"What are you jealous or something?" He chuckled annoyingly.

My stomach plunged down, and I did the only reasonable thing you can do in that case, yup! I chuckled too and hit him in the arm brotherly.

"You're not my type" I chortled.

"I know you're not a fag I just don't get why you're so upset"

There is was, the "F" word and of course I'm not talking about "fuck", but "Fag", the word that chased wherever I went in high school after I accidentally got boner in the locker room after gym class in my sophomore year, I couldn't let the people treat me in collage the way they used to in high school, so I did what I had to do to not be an outcast ever again, I lied.

"It's because of Candace, she doesn't deserves it dude" I blurted out pretending liking the ice-queen bitch.

Isaac's swaying gaze suddenly fixed on my face with mistrust, "Candace?" She's a bitch and you know it" Replied with a grimace.

"She's your girl, you can't do that to her" I reproached, I that bitch owed me so much!

"Geez Stiles! Isn't like I'm marrying her or this girl I'm just having fun" He said squinting at me.

Oh he was so wasted!

"So, you're not marrying Candace?" I asked astonished, fighting back a smile.

"Why would I? I'm just twenty"

Relief washed me inside, so they weren't endgame, at least not yet.

"I…I thought you loved her" I said feeling a pang in the guts.

"No, I don't love her or anyone, people are just messed up this days, I trust in no one"

The stinging feeling grew bigger and harder, the way the words came out of his mouth so meant it, it was painful for me, I thought that at least he trusted me and at the same time I felt pity for him, for not knowing how it was to fully share your feelings and thoughts with someone else, I knew it, it was time to go and move on.

"You're the exception, I mean, I love my parents because I must, but I love you because you made me, you're the only one with who I can be really me" He mumbled stroking my cheek with the back of his hand.

My heart skipped a beat, what the hell he meant?

"What's up ladies? Eating each other faces?" Said Todd, one of his friends from our backs.

"Yeah, wanna join us?" Isaac said with a half hiccup half chuckle crawling to stand.

"Stiles I think it's time to go" Derek said showing up at the porch, accompanied by Allison.

I stood and followed them to the car, but I wasn't really there, my mind stayed with Isaac, in the dimly lit porch.

And speaking of the two little birds, well I thought they were done with the boycott against Stisaac, yup! I got us a ship name, and how I wouldn't? After all he said that night about being me being the only person he really trusted, and come on! He said he loved me! Isaac loved me! And the best of all is that I wasn't' insane! Anyway, Derek and Allison got in the dorm the evening after the I love you party and found me sighing while I stared at the ceiling and thought about Isaac's words, they began to interrogate me and I said nothing was going on…. I'm still not sure exactly how I ended up smiling and telling them the whole story without missing a detail, but that was what happened.

When I was done, they were both staring at me with shocked faces, I knew Isaac had feelings for me, I knew he was gay, or bisexual at least, something deep inside me yelled at me every night before I went to bed that we were meant to be, and now they knew it too, or at least that was what I thought.

Next Friday –Don't ask, I still don't get how they convinced me- we went into a gay club, in farest corner of the city. I was so freaking scared, for many good reasons, first of all, the neighborhood, oh Jesus! It was surrounded by dark alleys and homeless people. Second, someone we knew could see us in there and finally because I never went into a gay club before and I was frigging scared. Allison made a mocking noise with the back of her throat when I told them and I sighed, of course she was mocking she was for sure used to come to that kind of places, freaking closeted lesbian, but me… I was freaking out? I had no idea of what to do or how act, what if my clothes were too casual for that kind of place? What if I didn't stick in? Or worse, what if I did stick in? See what I mean? Ok I was being a damn homophobic racist –which was hilariously ironic-, but I was scared and they shouldn't have dragged me there in the first place.

I was so glad they dragged me there! I mean it wasn't like my favorite place in the world, -It still was a movie theater- but you know what I mean, it wasn't as bad as I thought, Derek and Allison were having so much fun watching me gap, they were going to pay.

Ok I'm not a big fan of Lady Gaga or Lana Del Rey or any other contemporary gay icon, actually I prefer Indie Rock bands and quiet places like libraries, and this place was so noisy, and the music was so loud and everybody was dancing, like literally everybody was dancing, and I don't know nor like dancing –yeah, I'm the worst gay guy ever- my idea of having fun was sitting on a bench in an autumn afternoon and read a good book, or take pictures of the landscapes and make collages in the board next to my bed, and movies of course! Tons of movies -especially independent movies- and TV shows.

But surprisingly I found myself liking the club, yes it was noisy and the lights could give anybody an epileptic attack, but hey! It was part of the charm and Derek and Allison were already in the dance floor swaying to the beat of the music and the lights, oh crap! Derek knew how to dance! Ok I wasn't expecting that, I couldn't help but laugh. Later I reached the bar to try a Cosmo, I mean, I was there already and I couldn't leave without trying one of the main attractions of that kind of places, or it would have been like going to Disney world and don't call slut snow white.

So I went to the bar, it was a long black marvel table behind which awaited a guy with oxygenated hair, almost-scalp, with a piercing in his bare nipple, at first he didn't pay attention to me, and I couldn't blame him, there were at least other thirty people, and the other cocktail guys were just sat in the counter flirting with a couple of guys and two with girls.

I was losing my mind, seriously? I couldn't find Derek and Allison anywhere, I wanted to ask them if they wanted something from the bar, anyway they better didn't left me there alone or they were going to sleep in a bench at the park for at least two months. I stretched a hand to call the bartender's attention and then a guy shoved me aside.

"You dud! I've been waiting life forever" Complained the newcomer.

Bastard you just go here!

He was a scrawny blonde boy with twenty years or so, he was wearing what looked like pretty expensive clothes that made him look like a star, though he got this spoiled kid's mock on his face that made me want to punch his face.

"I'm waiting for my cosmos!" Complained again.

Ok I was going to knock him down that moron, yeah right, because I was Rocky Balboa –a less gay version of Rocky Balboa-

"Come on! Jerry is waiting!" He warned.

Suddenly seven cosmos appeared in front of me.

"Jerry here you are!" Said the body smiling at me, "Sorry for keeping you waiting, it is this prick's fault"

What the hell?

"Anyway, Dray charge it to Jerry's account okay?" And he took three cups.

My blood was literally boiling.

Then he beckoned me with a look as if he were waiting for me.

"Take the drinks" He ordered.

I glared at him.

"Follow me" Added bossily.

Okay this was turning weirder with every second. I followed him to the farest wall back to the dance floor.

"Who in the hell is Jerry?" I asked with obstinacy, dodging a dancing couple.

"I don't know" He said snorting and cracking in laughs. "We made that up three years ago when I lost my credit card and I didn't have a way to pay the drinks, Dray isn't too smart so…"

"You steal from him" I reproached angrily.

"Take it easy Jerry, do you have any idea of how much money they make every night in this place?" He said mockingly.

"Don't call me Jerry, my name is not Jerry" I protested.

"Ok not Jerry how should I call you then?" He said haughtily.

"I'm Stiles" I replied discouraged.

"Nice to meet you Stiles, I'm James, don't call me Jimmy or you're gonna suffer" warned.

"Jimmy Hurry up, or Tim is going to commit suicide!" A guy from a table near us yelled.

We approached them, Jesus! I didn't even know what I was doing there.

"Did Dray say something?" Asked one of them with a sly grin.

"Yeah!" James replied with a sneer, "He said he was waiting for his break to jerk off with your picture in the bathroom"

"Don't be rude" Another guy interrupted, "He's in love, who can blame him?"

"And who is this?" Asked one of them staring at me as if I was a slice of rooting pizza.

He had long lashes and brown eyes, a shaved head, and his mouth glistened as if he wore too much lipstick.

"He's Stiles I just found him flirting with Dray" James said and snickered.

"You bastard!" The one who asked for Dray said sharply.

My face reddened.

"I wasn't flirting with him… I…I don't even know him" I blurted out angrily.

"Relax sweetie we were just kidding with you" Mr. Lipstick said winking at me.

"Yeah Stiles, take it easy, everybody is cool in here, right betches?"

And that's how I met the betches, they were six, which meant the seventh Cosmo was mine! I took a sip after they offered me a sit with them and hell! It was delicious! So… the betches… Tim, short legged, straw hair, hazel eyes and extremely shy –he was the one obsessed with Dray- then is Casden, everybody called him Cass, he had broad shoulders, black hair, and brown skin, bulgy pink lips and even fewer words than Tim. Next is Liam or how I liked to call him Mr. Lipstick. Next is Freddy the star of the group the one who probably taught Shakira how dance and just stood to show everybody his skills.

Then comes Matty, who had his mouth full of piercings that people seemed to find irresistible, because in the short time I spent with them that night I saw him making out with at least five different guys, James told me they called him cockgina but mostly Hip, because he was bisexual and he practically fucked with every moving thing, but of course that was just James being a racist son of the bitch as usual.

And speaking of the devil, everybody called James Jimmy but I preferred Jim, Jimmy was too childish and innocent and if Jim was something it definitely wasn't innocent, he was that kind of rich boy that everybody hates for being so cocky and arrogant, you know that one who pays his drug dealer with a platinum American Express and thinks that everybody should kiss his ass. Yeah I know! Jim was the kind of person I was used to hate but I couldn't help laughing because of his jokes and witty comments and his lack of respect for literally everything and everyone, like that one time he got caught driving high and sued the officer who arrested him and the bastard won the trail, or that time when he was at high school and the football team locked him in his locker for five hours for being gay, and he taped himself having sex with all their girlfriends and uploaded the video in the school's server.

So, I couldn't help it, Jim was one of this guys you hate but want to be friends with at the same time, we chatted the whole night about everything, music, movies, Jim tried to talk about sports –no one listened to him- Liam about his Lady Gaga's dedicated YouTube channel, Tim only talked about Dray and say one or two things about gyms with Casden, Freddy kept dancing near us but didn't join the conversation.

They all knew each other three years ago at that same place, Jim came to celebrate his eighteen birthday and found Tim trying to ask a drink to Dray, he got him a cup and they sat next to Liam table who was crying over some guy or multiple guys ignoring him, I don't remember, to be honest no one paid much attention to him when he was explaining it.

I had a great night, awesome night! Derek and Allison showed up a couple of hours before dawn with those annoying mocks on their faces, yeah I got a good night but that didn't mean I was going to forget about Isaac, I loved him it didn't matter what they said about it.

Speaking of Isaac…Well things turned weird for two or three weeks, he avoided me all that time without an explanation, and yeah I felt like shit but then I got what was going on, Isaac was confused, of course! That was the first time he got feelings for another guy and I couldn't expect him to be receptive about it so quickly. Everybody has to come through the three stages before truly knowing themselves, first denial, then the bisexual phase –except if you truly are bisexual- and finally acceptance, all of them took time and it would depend in part in the people who is there for the confused rat until they are ready to start accepting who they really are inside.

So my plan was simple, I was going to be there for him in that hard time, but to do that I needed to search him, not wait for him to text me, he was pretty confused and needed a shoulder on which rely, and that should was going to be mine, so I texted him and surprise! He didn't reply, maybe it was better if I went to see him, thought there was a part of me burning because he didn't texted me back. That was a long night, I opened my eyes at least four times in an hour to check if he texted me, my dreams that night were basically about me waking up to find out that he finally replied, yup I was becoming insane!

Next day I was determinate to get a sign of life from him so I was going to his dorm, I took a bath and went back to my room soaked and found Becca in there, ok it was the last thing I was expecting to happened, but hey! It becomes even weirder! Well Becca had a date with a guy she totally liked and wanted me to help her pick up the right outfit, can you believe that? I mean, that was confusing I thought we were dating, well not actually dating but you know I thought she thought she was my girlfriend and yeah I felt a bit jealous about this mysterious Mr. Jock which is stupid but hell! She was cheating on me! Well it technically wasn't cheating because she told me about it.

So Becca knew I was gay, I blame Allison for that, thought Becca told me it was her sophisticated gaydar –probably the lack of kisses and sex in our relationship- Fuck! I felt humiliated! So now I had to go with her to the mall and help her pick up some clothes and I agreed before she could black mail, and hell! She had all the rights to do it, considering that I used her, so… just because Becca was blonde it didn't mean she was dump… okay me and my racist ass learned the lesson!

So I took her to the mall on Derek's car and got her and Ice-cream and as soon as we got there I took her hand, it was fun to pretend to be her boyfriend, when we both knew we weren't a real couple at all! So she wanted me to help her pick up her clothes which now that I think about it was totally racist considering that I used to wear butch clothes, yeah, jogging shoes, jeans, geek t-shirts and a hoodie –I always had to wear a hoodie- and if you could tag cameras and books as clothes well I was always carrying them with me or in my bag.

So this boy was taking my fake girlfriend into a cocktail party and I had to help her pick the dress she was going to wear, don't get me wrong I wasn't jealous I was… mad at her for not telling me she knew I was using her and bod for being using her when she was such a good girl and yeah, alright I was a little jealous about this mysterious guy, anyway, all I could do was watch her come out of the fitting room wearing different dresses and say which I liked better and… hey! I wasn't as bad at it as I thought! I did pick a few and at the end we both agreed that the salmon strapless made her look taller, so that was the one! After the dress we went to the jewelry, she needed some bracelets and a necklace that matched the dress, so we took the bag with the dress and when we got out of the store we ran into Isaac and Kelly and their big chuckles.

So Isaac wasn't having a bad time, actually it was quite the opposite, he and Kelly seemed pretty happy, suddenly I felt an urgency to ran away to not… let him see how bad I felt of watching them so happy together, there was a bitter taste in the back of my throat scorching me from inside and I wanted to go, to disappear and don't see him ever again, I was so stupid, he said all that about being himself only with me about me making him love me, it was all a drunk lie. Ok I overreacted –as usual- yeah they were having a good time, but that didn't mean anything, he had his right to hang out with his girlfriend even if she was Candace, however as soon as he saw me he smiled and I couldn't help it, I smiled too, we had a coke together and chatted a little, I pretended I didn't mind the fact that he was avoiding me or to be more accurate, pretending I didn't exist the last three weeks, and he seemed pretty happy to see me, we talked about trivial things like the weather and our classes, Isaac loved hear me talk about my classes maybe because my career seemed more exciting than learning tons of laws every day.

After that day he texted me to tell me he was having a hard time with a couple of classes again. I went to his dorm the next day to help him out, it was the first time we were going to be alone since the party, so I was a bit thrilled because of what he might say, now that we were finally alone and… nothing happened, it was a pretty normal day, the only remarkable thing about it was that things felt the same way they were before the party, I know it wasn't a declaration of love but was enough for me, whatever happened if Isaac decided to accept he had feelings for me or he decided to lose more time with Kelly I was happy, because at least he was part of my life and that was enough, at least for now.

On spring break Isaac invited me to visit his parent's summer house in Laguna, I was so excited we were going to spend a week alone in a cabin in a place I didn't know! Of course things didn't came out as expected, first of all Derek's and Allison's disapproval and complains right after I came back from the gay club to tell the betches. Second, we weren't going to be alone, sadly I found Kelly in the passenger's seat the next morning when I was about to get into Isaac's SUV. Third we weren't to be alone at all! Because his parents some uncles and cousins were waiting for us when we climbed down of the car that afternoon.

I wanted to go back home, I needed it! It was a nightmare, being trapped with Kelly a whole week, unable to talk alone with Isaac to not mention how awkward it was going to be to spend time with his family, nonetheless his parents weren't the awful people I was expecting when I met them, actually they were pretty cool and way younger than I thought, the place was pretty modest which was stunning considering how wealthy his family was, but it was nice and cozy, the first day he introduced me all his family members, we hiked around the town and them came back to the cabin to have some sleep, of course I was staying in a guest room with one of Isaac's cousins JT, while Kelly and him had sex in the next room, okay my life was too depressing to bear, I needed to come up with an excuse to get back home but I didn't want to hurt Mr. and Mrs. Lahey's feelings.

The next day They made a barbecue outside the lake while most of the family bathed, apparently this was a thing they did often like a family tradition to spent the holydays together and have fun, share stories and everything else, now I felt out of place I wasn't part of that family actually I was yearning for mine in that moment, which is stupid because we weren't that close, especially after I decided to be gay.

Isaac parent's loved me, they found me amusing and cool for being so nice to help Isaac with his classes, they said I was always going to have a place in their table which was great thing! Especially because they seemed to like me better than Candace, See now Isaac? Even your parents shipped us, yeah Mrs. Lahey didn't seem to have major issues with Kelly except for the times I caught her staring stunned at the girl's grimaces because of the food, Mr. Lahey in other hand, didn't like the bitch at all, actually he was pretty concerned that she might be trying to get pregnant on porpoise to chain Isaac to her, yup! That's what he told me that Thursday, but you're not reading this to know about Candace, you are here to know how things messed up don't? You little sadist.

The things got messed up on Friday, some local guys were throwing a party in the other side of the lake on a large and bigger house, they were friends with some of Isaac's girl cousins, so they invited us, the things were normal, actually pretty cool, when we got there JT offered me a drink, he was a shy boy and I couldn't help having a weird feeling about him, we talked a little about Isaac which was funny because we shared a room all those days and didn't actually talk until that night, he told me how close Isaac and he were when they were younger, after that, one of the girls invited me to dance, I didn't know how to dance, I didn't want to dance I didn't like to dance, but I didn't want to get exposed so I came with her thought I wanted to stay with JT and hear more fun stories about teen Isaac, never mind, she was going to regret dancing with me and I was going to be back shy JT within seconds.

I know I got drunk, I just don't remember when but after I followed that girl into the dance floor my hard disk wiped out, the next thing I remember is my blood boiling in my veins and Isaac and Kelly kissing in front of me, we were all in a circle, then another boy and a girl kissed, then two girls kissed, and then another boy-girl couple, spin the bottle? Seriously? How old they thought they were? Thirteen? Anyway the bottle spun and I don't remember well what happened but everybody was staring at me and many said things like, "do it!" and others "I bet they won't" then I'm grabbing JT by the collar of his shirt pressing him closer to me as we kissed.

I blinked and I was stumbling in the forest looking for Isaac, he left after JT and I kissed, I found him sitting in the shore of the lake throwing rocks to the water, I remember he said something like.

"So you're a fag no?"

In that exact moment my world fall apart, the despise in his voice, JT was the gay cousin-everyone has a gay cousin, if you don't have one I have bad news for you-, oh god! That was the weird vibe I got from him, I was so stupid! Life tested me and I failed, now Isaac didn't want anything to do with me and called me fag, but I wasn't sad, I was disappointed and hurt by Isaac's words.

I remember he said other hurtful things and then I strode away from him, if alcohol gave me something that day apart from a bad day and bad ideas was a bit of self-esteem, I didn't deserved his words, I didn't do anything wrong, and I didn't want to see Isaac ever again. We weren't going to be back home until two more days, but most drunk people think with their fists, others with their mouths and in my case with tears and all I wanted was to stay away from him, so I went back to the cabin and packed my things, I'm not sure if he called my name or if it was my imagination but what did definitely happen was that I got a cab and asked the driver to take me to the bus station.

The next morning I had to stand Derek's and Allison's "I told you so" and it was especially hard to not tell them to fuck off, but they were right, they warned me and I didn't want to hear them, but I was too hurt to listen to them rejoicing for being right.

The months came and went and I didn't get news from Isaac in three months but I didn't care, I was so done that I didn't care If he was alive or not, I never mentioned him again, neither with the betches, the last I needed was have them mocking around about me falling in love with a confused straight jerk.

Isaac texted me in august, he said he needed to talk to me, that he really felt wrong about everything and wanted to apologize for everything he said, my anger was already fading by then and let's face it, I had this craving deep inside, a hole in my stomach that grew larger every day, felling with emptiness and sorrow so I agreed to meet Isaac and sort the things out between us.

Our reunion wasn't as expected, it was pretty awkward and Isaac pushed too hard his guilt feelings, but eventually we sorted out our things, we worked hard, really hard in our relationship, we really wanted to make the things work again, it was hard but we were committed to get back what we had, and within days the symbiosis came back and again we couldn't be apart from each other, though I started having good and bad days. In the bad ones I didn't see Isaac at all and anxiety took over me. In the good ones I got to see Isaac but the problem was that some were good-good days and others good-bad days, in the good-good days I got to see Isaac, to spend time with him and be same old ones we were. In the good-bad days I got to see Isaac but I wasn't happy to see him, suddenly I felt a huge emptiness and loneliness again, I didn't want to see him, or be near him, the words he said to me in the lake came back every time I looked at him, furthermore he broke up with Candace, and she kept asking him to get back together, also in one good-good day we talked about JT, they were close when they were kids but later they grew apart but JT never got over it and then the family found out about his homosexuality, that's why he freaked out when he saw us kissing, he wasn't an homophobe, he was just scared I might turn to be as obsessive as JT, of course I made a joke saying I found him ugly and just because I was gay it didn't mean I was attracted to any thing with a dick.

After that day we split again, Isaac got a lot of projects and Derek didn't want to talk to me because of Isaac so I tried to not mention him in our conversations which was hard, because every time I spent more than a week without news from him I started to freak out, we go out a couple of times to movies and some parties, I did my best to not drink and embarrass myself and Isaac stop hanging out with his friends when he was with me, so that confirmed me that they hated me but I didn't care I hated them too.

His "I miss you" texts always made my day, so that's why I sighed like a high school girl that morning at Mr. Perry's class, he was talking about a documentary project we would have in the end of the year which we should start to record from now and it should be about something that passionate us, it would be the sixty percent or our final grade, which in other words meant, fail this and you're screwed. Derek was already scribbling on his notebook his ideas for our project, I didn't want to think about it too much, I was more interested in Isaac's texts.

"When can I see you?" texted me.

I blushed.

"Whenever you want, you know where I live" I replied with a devilish grin in my lips.

Yeah, turns out that Isaac is really open minded and already got over all that thing about me being gay, so now we had this little game were we pretended we flirted.

"What about Sunday?" Asked.

My heart skipped a beat, Oh god! That day marked a year since we met, and he recalled it!

"Yeah seems fine to me" I replied coolly.

"Can I spend the night? Really want to talk to you about something"

Okay, that was it, that wasn't dump Isaac playing games with me, but real Isaac, texting real shit, he wanted to spend the night with me, the same day we met a year past.

"No problem" I wrote and grabbed my stuffs because the class was over.

This is silly I know, but it was a big a thing, it was the day Stisaac was born, and I wanted it be as special as any other birthday, so there have to be a cake. I asked Becca if she could help me to bake one and begged her to not tell anything to Allison or anybody else, or you can guess how things would have turned out, so she helped me, yeah I know! I could just buy one in a bakery store, but it wasn't the same, when you love someone you put your heart in the things and I wanted to see his faces when he saw our birthday cake and when I told him I did it myself. While we were baking I couldn't help thinking about his abs covered in frosting, oh god! I was really sick! But hey! I needed some action, the last thing I kissed was JT and look how the things ended up, I needed a fresh start for my lips' virginity and that Sunday seemed to be, the special day.

So things didn't run out as expected, Jesus! Really? My life is a friggin Soap Opera! I waited for him, waited, even convinced Becca to invite Derek and Allison to a freshmen party –yeah, déjà vu- and waited, and waited a little longer… but Isaac never came, I wasn't going to text him, I was going to look desperate, instead I read, watched TV shows, saw the cake slowly melt, until I gave up and went to bed, Derek and Allison got in at three in the morning, they were…really, but I mean, really drunk, they were making a lot of noise, so they woke me up, groggily watched them fall over Derek's bed cracking in laughs, I wanted to go away but it was three in the morning and it was chilling outside.

"Why you didn't go?" Asked Allison, in a slur.

"Busy?" I lied.

"Even Isaac was there, but ain't like it matters anyway" Derek pointed out despiteful.

My stomach plunged down, he was there he was at the party, he lied to me, he promised we would see each other, in our special day.

The next morning I waited for a text a call, an explanation, that never came, but it didn't matter, I was sick of it, I couldn't keep living that way anymore, hopping to get good-good days, crying over his lies, and comments, I didn't even car what else was there waiting for us or if ever there was going to be an us I just couldn't take it anymore, so I wrote him a letter telling him everything, who I was and who I became the moment I met him. How magical things were and how Derek made my life miserable telling me to stay away from him, I talked about the good and the bad times, and how exactly I felt in every single one of them, I took the fifteen pages with me, wherever I went, hoping to find him soon to deliver it, I wasn't going to text him the letter, I wanted to see his face one last time to remember him the way he was, and how his eyes sparkled when he smiled at me.

I finally saw him on Wednesday and he smiled at me as usual, as if nothing happened thought he wanted to apologize for not showing up on Sunday, but he had some family problems.

Yeah, right

I said it didn't matter, and that what really hurt me was the fact that he forgot that it was the day we met. I gave him the letter while he promised me he was going to make it up to me, that, that Saturday he was going to make a big party to celebrate our day, he said I wasn't going to see it coming, I told him to not lie, because his nose would grow and I left, I knew there wasn't going to be a party, or celebration or us, because as soon as he read the letter he was going to hate me, there isn't anything worse than being hated by the person you love most, and if it only harder if the reason they hated is because you love them. There wasn't any way he was going to want to see me again after I confessed him my feelings and maybe it was the best, because that meant he wasn't going to be around to hurt me ever again.

The next two days were magical, everything was bright and beautiful and I smiled, a lot! I finally had full control of my life and emotions and there wasn't nothing to be worried about. On Saturday Derek and Allison went out with guys to a rave, they invited me, but I wasn't in the mood –of course I didn't tell them about the letter or Isaac- so I told them I needed to clean up the room a little, and I wasn't laying, the place was a total mess, and part of my new resolutions in life were to be cleaner, so I decided to stay, of course not to wait for Isaac, -I knew he wasn't going to come- but to clean up the room, so after they left I took the broom and some plastic bags and started cleaning up everything –not because someone might be coming- Derek got tons of shit scattered, it would take me forever to take his dirty socks and rotten pizza's crusts from below his bed, I even found and unopened bottle of vodka.

A distant hitched breathing made me flutter my eyes open groggily, my head laid on a warm and cozy pillow that rose and fell in short spams, my arms ached and felt stiff and heavy.

"Shut up, you're gonna wake him up" Allison's vice said in a whisper.

I could get scent of soap, my hair was damp as if I just took a bath.

"It wasn't a big thing, everything is going to be okay" Allison assured.

I slowly leaped my head from Derek's bare chest, Allison was in the floor scrubbing my blood from the wood.

"Everything…is…going… to be alright" Derek repeated over and over, as if he tried to convince himself, his voice cracking in the last words as if he couldn't handle it anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

My heart was broken and all the pieces were scattered around the campus, every inch of the college grounds had a painful memory for me so it was hard to be out of my dorm away from that same very bed were it all started, if I closed my eyes I could still feel his scent in my pillow so I couldn't sleep in my bed, it was so hard. All my life was taken away from me, every little beautiful thing in my life left with Isaac and now I just shrunk until I was nothing and that's exactly what I wanted, to go, to close my eyes and wake up in another world where Isaac never existed and my biggest concerns were to not fall fast asleep in Mr. Perry's class or try to ignore the fact that months passed and I still hadn't any news from my parents.

The days came and went, then the weeks and before I could see it coming November was here and Isaac was officially gone from my life, but not from my heart, and it is hard to think about it, I mean I don't remember well that night, but I wouldn't try to kill myself right? I didn't try it I'm sure of it, the last thing I remember is that I was really, really disappointed and that I wanted to make myself pay for my mistakes, for being so stupid, for believing that Isaac could love, so I had to feel some pain, okay not some but a lot, I had to suffer I had to face the consequences of thinking that someone could ever have feelings for me.

Derek was my only link with reality and now I has having new kind of days, forget about the good-good or good-bad days now I only had bad-bad days, some awful and others not so much, every day was the same, I woke up thinking that Isaac was finally out of my mind and that I had a chance to smile again and continue with my life but by noon I was down on the floor drowning with my tears until Derek came and started it yell at me making me feel even worse, in the not so bad days Derek used to drag me into his bed and hug me in silence until it was late night and I drifted away on his bare chest lulled by his steady heartbeat, in the bright side Allison didn't feel jealous about me So I could safely rejoice and sink my face in his bulgy arms without risk.

Don't get me wrong I wasn't taking advantage of my situation, I just felt a little happy to have Derek taking care of me like when we were kids, yeah Okay I still had feelings for him, but not the bad kind I just needed someone by my side and turned out that that someone was Derek, as usual.

My story with Derek was complicated, I mean I always had this feelings when I was a kid, I'm talking about this fire burning inside, scorching me from within but I thought it was a normal thing in friendship. In other hand the people in my family were already talking about me spending too much time with Derek and as everybody else I had a nosey aunt, you know that aunt whose only purpose in life is ask you if you got any girlfriend yet, and of course I didn't, and ain't like I didn't like I didn't try, I tried like a lot! Especially after Derek got his first girl at fourth grade and I couldn't help feeling "_envious"_ about it, now I wonder which feeling is worst, enviousness or jealousy.

When I was ten aunt Mary –yup, that aunt!- started using this word "fag" to refer to me, of course she didn't mean it in a disrespectful way it was only that she is a racist bitch and sometimes she doesn't know who to speak properly, but I still couldn't get what "_that boy is going to be a fag"_meant, and I didn't until I was fifteen, yeah I was pretty innocent and I didn't have any idea about sex, I didn't learn anything in all those years because as I told you I never got a girlfriend, between my big mouth, my lack of self-esteem and my gens I couldn't get one, even though the world said that all boys should get a girl, skip classes, have bad grades and spend half semester in detention, yeah I was the worst boy-son in history and I couldn't do anything about it.

Derek and I did everything together, yeah even bathed "I blush" but it was until we were six or so, what I'm trying to say is that we were really close and by the time I was fifteen aka third girlfriend time I couldn't help it anymore and started to get that the feelings I had were more than just a healthy friend's envy, I was really mad at him for spending time with his girl instead of me, for saying I love you to her and doing things with her that he wouldn't do with me, so… I decided that it was time to split and slowly and I started to turn my back on him, first I missed a movie, then a videogame's session, a school project, his birthday and then I was gone, as if I never existed, those were the longest three months of my life, but I had to do it, Derek choose her over me and I couldn't be jealous, because it wasn't right a boy couldn't hates his best friend's girl, but I did and it was seriously wrong.

Derek came to my house one day and I couldn't help feeling my stomach plunging down when my mom told me that he went to see me, I couldn't help it, a part of me desperately craved for Derek's company and fancied with the idea of him noticing my absence in his life, and he did notice I mean I ignored him the last three months in the classes we had together and now he was really pissed at me, it was so cute how his cheeks reddened with the anger, when he calmed down he told me he broke up with his girl because she wanted to be with him anytime always and it was starting to scare him thought he felt a little sad about it, I couldn't help smiling inside, I was so happy! Oh god! Something was seriously wrong with me and now I knew it, well not knew it I just couldn't keep denying it to myself any longer I was in love with Derek, I wanted to hug him, and taste his fleshy lips and smell his intoxicating perfume everywhere I went… and… Derek could never knew that.

Another month came and went and every day I woke up thinking about Derek and the stuffs we did the day before, it was so hard to get used to the idea of being in love with another man especially with my best friend but I couldn't help feeling good about it, also I started noticing that there were few things we did that the rest of the best friends never did, like Derek carrying my backpack for me after class or getting lunch for me or the fact that he didn't freak out when I laid my head on his shoulder while we watched a movie, so I thought that maybe I wasn't crazy and maybe my feelings for him weren't wrong, I mean we chatted from dawn to bed time and we slept over a lot at each other's place and come on! We hugged like a LOT so… One day I couldn't fight the feeling anymore and kissed him, it was a brief kiss, I just brushed my lips against his but that didn't mean I felt nothing actually it was the quite the opposite, my whole body stirred and tingled from the tips of my toes to the top of my head, I sighed and then giggled all at once while Derek… Well Derek just left and I stayed at home feeling like crap. I cried my eyes out after he left, I ruined everything I did that to myself why I had to be so selfish? Why I couldn't let the things stay as they were?

I don't remember how many times I called Derek in a single day but I did a lot and he never picked the calls, at least not until the third day, his mom was sick of answering his phone to tell me he didn't feel well, she knew something was going on between us but didn't have idea of what which I thanked even thought I crossed the line Derek still tried to take care of me, or maybe he was too embarrassed to even say it aloud, When he picked the call he didn't even let me say I'm sorry he just told me it was better to be apart for a while and then cut the call.

The next day I didn't see him at school, the following we didn't talk or saw each other, I was broken, I lost Derek and just because I couldn't hold myself, now I could see how wrong things were inside me and how evil my feelings were.

Derek and I didn't talk for a whole year, it was the hardest year of my life, to watch him every day have fun and laugh with his new friends, to his and have sex with his new girlfriend while I crumbled, of course I eventually got over it, not completely of course, I missed Derek so badly but I liked to think that he just left for holidays and never came back, and that this guy I saw now with his face were just our class' new nerd. In other hand I tried to fight back my feelings because they multiplied and now I saw handsome boys more often at school, I'm not sure if it was a cosmic joke or actually many and many hot guys were really moving in in the town.

I went to church on Sundays and prayed a lot but my feelings never left, and I never told the bishop about it, it was too embarrassing and I was afraid of what people could think of me if they knew the truth so I kept my secret and slowly died inside because I knew I was evil and people like me were the most loathsome kind of persons in society and I couldn't fight the way I felt, so I had to not let anyone find out about me or else it would be my end.

They found out about me and it was my end! For months I thought fuck it! I could be bisexual –I thought that at least I wouldn't be treated like shit if I was bisexual- So I was bisexual and soon would get a girl and things would settle, I started to flirt with some junior girls, but it was hard, I wouldn't stop muttering and sweating, not because I liked them but because I couldn't stop thinking that they were my last chance and the whole world was staring expectantly, if I fucked that everyone was going to hate me especially myself, and surprise it didn't work! Got to say it again, thanks anxiety, thanks self-esteem, thank my parent's gens, they were not interested and I was screwed.

To make the things worst my dick started to play tricks to me, sometimes I just couldn't help get a boner in class, cool I could just hide it below my desk or my hoodie, but gym class was a different story, the guys in short pants… I had to run early to the showers to take a bath before someone could see me and one day it eventually happened. I was dressing up, one of the guys was naked I got a glimpse of his…_thing_ with the corner of my eye and the next morning everybody laughed at me when they grabbed me and wrote faggot in my forehead in bold letters with a black marker, I skipped class to go back home, had to wear a hat I stole to not let anyone else see it in my way back home. My mom freaked out when she saw me and said she was going to school with me the next day, I begged her not to and got in my bedroom to mourn, I was so disappointed, she wasn't mad because they bullied me but because they were accusing me of being an homosexual, and she had to know for god sake! She was my mother she had to know that something was wrong with me since I was a toddler but she choose to ignore it.

The days that followed were the worst, they made me so many pranks and jokes that that time I really considered killing myself it was so unfair but didn't try it, I didn't know about what made me feel more afraid if dying or live that way for ever. I needed a hero, I needed someone to save from the soccer team and their cruel jokes, and god heard me because the first Friday after my body pushed out of the closet, the soccer team was tearing apart my texts books and writing their names with red lipstick in my locker when Derek showed up and told them to let me alone, it was the first time I heard his voice in months and it was like a choir of angels, of course the soccer team kicked both of our asses and made fun of us for long time but I wasn't sad or felt alone anymore, because Derek was my friend again and it was all that mattered.

Derek blamed himself for what happened to me, and it wasn't good because it wasn't his fault, he apologized for freaking out and told me that I made him doubt about who he was for a while and that he felt sorry for hurting my feelings he really wanted to see me happy because he loved me –but not in that way- I felt like shit for putting him in that situation, Derek had a big heart and I misunderstood everything.

And that's why after everything he blamed himself for what happened with Isaac he felt responsible and it was stupid because it wasn't his fault, I didn't listen to him and he said he should have forbid me to see Isaac and none of this would have happened, I hated when he treated me like he owned me, anyway he tried hard, really hard to get me out of the dorm, forcing me to watch movies with Allison and him, to take pictures in the lake but nothing made me feel happy again, even tried to take me back to the club but I wasn't in the mood to let Jim and the rest of the betches to mock at me for falling for a confused straight guy again, I just wanted to sink in my bed and vanish it is what I got for being so naïve to think that I deserved to be happy.

Eventually I started feeling that I was stepping in the middle of Derek and Allison and it was better to back off, the least I need was to ruin their relationship, I wouldn't be able to carry on with such responsibility and guilt, so by the first week of December I decided to get out of Derek's arm I couldn't force him to stop living just because of me, so I pretended I was feeling better that everything was alright so he could calm down and continue with his life, as soon as he left not so much convinced I sunk my face in my bed, it was so cold and uncomfortable that I couldn't help yearning for Derek's chest –the gym was doing miracles on him- my body missed it and so did I. I just laid there and all I could think about was Isaac and how much I missed him, how that feeling was tearing me apart from inside, it wasn't healing at all actually it was just driving me insane but I couldn't do anything stupid ever again, Derek already threatened me with calling my parents if I ever think about doing something to harm myself again and the least I needed in my life was more drama.

That's why I agreed to join him in his gym session the next morning when he invited me, I needed to prove him and myself that I could do better or else I deserved to be locked down in a madhouse for good. So I got a pair of jogging pants, comfortable shoes and a hoodie –of course I had to wear a hoodie- and followed Derek while he ran that morning, would it be too pathetic if I tell I lasted less than I mile? Well let's say I lasted four and everybody is happy. I had to take the train to the gym nearest station and walk the rest of the way to the gym to wait for Derek who got there twenty minutes later –Ha! Who is faster now Derek? - When he got there he was soaking wet and his cheeks were as red as every time we had an arguing.

There isn't much to say about the inside of the complex, besides the fact that we were surrounded by an army of hot, but really HOT guys! Great now I felt like a fish out of the ocean, there were tons of creepy and weird machines that looked like transformers and that made the guys using them adopt pretty funny poses that made me wonder if Derek secretly took me to a gay porn's set.

Derek guided me throw rows of machines until we stopped next to a bench press that unless or the regular horizontal bench had a steep seat, he made me sit in the bench as I started to throw uncomfortable looks around, I was pretty sure everyone was staring at me like the total loser I was.

"Ok now grab the bar" He ordered pointing at the long metal pole in front of me with large iron disks on its edges.

I swallowed hard and closed my eyes.

"Derek… you're not seriously thinking…" I started trying to not freak out, I was going to make a fool of myself when I wasn't capable to lift that weight.

"Relax" Derek chuckled taking a disk from the bar and changing it from another considerably smaller.

Oh great now I was going to look like a pussy lifting that girl's weight.

"I hate you" I said irate.

"Don't underestimate them" He advised finishing the change of the other disk.

"Alright now grab the bar, grip it thigh, spread your arms but not so much, just do it until you feel comfortable"

I did what he said, Oh god I felt so stupid! Though I was chuckling which only made me feel stupider.

"Now wrap your thumbs around the bar" Ordered.

I did so.

"Now make sure your elbows are just right below your wrists"

I rolled my eyes. _Bring a rule you idiot._

"Alright you're ready" Said with a grin.

"Now slowly lower the bar to your chest, focus on keeping it horizontal, squeeze tight your shoulder blades and push up fast and pull down slowly" Explained looking at me with sparkling eyes.

He was enjoying it, what the fuck? And that guy was supposed to be my best friend?

"You now I gonna make you pay for this, right?" I said pressing my lips tight and lifting the bar.

The bar rose, the frigging bar rose! Oh god I was so happy, well it wasn't a big thing considering how small the disks were but hell those motherfuckers were heavy!

My palms started sweating and burning a little with the first push up and I knew I had to bring some gloves or something, but how in the hell I would have known Derek was going to make me do that?

I slowly pulled down the bar and… oh hell that did hurt!

Fuck! I thought not daring to speak and let go the air I was holding.

"Derek…" I started with concern in my voice.

"Come on! Keep doing it!" Encouraged me, "Make twenty at least"

Twenty? I did two and was already done how in the hell was going to do another eighteen lifts?

"I…can't" I replied in a gasp.

I don't know what he was planning to say, but by the look on his eyes was some devilish shit that would have made me throw the bar over him, anyway his cellphone rang and I had to keep pushing up and down

"Char…" I tried to call him but he was already too far to hear me.

Oh god! Oh god! He didn't tell me how to make it stop, and my arms were already flailing, Jesus! I was going to die, I was going to crashed by a baby girl's bench press, it not only was going to be my death but a pathetic death, I was probably going to end up in some twisted news show on TV were they would laugh while they talk about my death.

"Derek" I gasped felling my arms about to fall, I was going to be crushed, it was going to fall right over my throat, now I didn't even dare to slowly push down I could feel how my arms would give up and betray me, pansy bastards!

Oh god no! Oh fuck!

I let go and closed my eyes waiting for the bar to hit me in the forehead or the throat but the impact never came.

I slowly opened my eyes ready to thank Derek with my face full of tears mixed with sweat when… wait that wasn't Derek.

In front of me was a guy, but hell! Not any kind of guy but that guy that when you see him he so perfect that you get suddenly stunned staring at his eyes and you're afraid you might be drooling. He had short golden wavy hair and hazel eyes, large and rosy eyes bags that made him look mysterious, his nose was tiny as his ears and his mouth had pink and pouty thick lips that made me lick mine, he was wearing a drenched white top tank through which you could see his pecs and his short and thigh nipples.

He stared at me with a suspicious look and then parted his lips and snorted.

"I don't know why girls like you come to this kind of places" Said haughtily.

I gaped, "How did you just called me?" I grunted with rage.

"G-I-R-L" He spelled with despise.

I jerk up balling my hands but he just passed by me as if he just lost his interest, and I stood there feeling like an idiot.

Motherfucker! I thought as I saw his butt swagger away from me.

"We're screwed, we're screwed!" Derek's voice said suddenly making me come back to real world.

"What? What happened?" I said calmly stretching my aching arms.

"Screenwriting!" He shouted making that some of the guys around us looked at us as if we were crazy.

"Derek I don't…" I started puzzled.

"Screenwriting project Stiles we totally forgot about it!"

Oh shit.

Oh shit.

OH SHIT! FUCK!

When? When Mr. Anderson said we had to present our film? Shit I couldn't remember, okay time to freak out! Time to fucking freak out! I didn't remember when he had to present our film and I hadn't shot anything, I didn't even remembered where was our top date damn it! I was so immersed in all the Isaac's crap that forgot about my classes, but Hey! It wasn't class time yet! Maybe I could shot something with my phone right? Right?

Okay we were so screwed!

Derek and I ran to the station, and I couldn't stop feeling like all that was my fault, I mean Derek was like the nerdiest human being in the entire planet he never forgot about his classes and actually worked on his project with months ahead! But the last two he was so deeply, utterly abnegated to me and my problems and he must have forgot about himself and his priorities.

We got to the dorm straight to check up our notebooks before freaking out more, and we had reasons to freak out more, I mean we had to present our individual projects that same afternoon, it was about dramatic project of twenty minutes, how in the hell was I going to shoot a twenty minutes dramatic film when I didn't even had a camera and had to wait weeks in a line to rent one from storage? Shit!

"Derek… I'm so sorry" I said embarrassed sitting next to him in his bed.

"Why? it isn't your fault" He said with a chuckled.

He chuckled, yeah right! Mr. Perfect was pretending he wasn't having a break down just to not hurt my feelings.

"Just forget it Stiles we can't do anything about it" He said with disappointment in his voice.

I couldn't believe I dragged him down with me, now I knew I was really fucked! I wasn't just screwing my life by mourning on the corners, but Derek's too.

That afternoon we trudged to the auditorium in the building next to the filmmaking faculty, many outsiders liked to assist to ours displaying evaluations so it was kind of difficult sometimes to find a seat in the theater.

I felt so stupid getting in there without a film I mean it was humiliating, especially because of the Coders, who were the Coders? It is supposed to be a club or whatever I saw it more like a sect of losers that couldn't get the fact that Derek, Missy and I had something that they didn't –Yeah I'm talking about talent- and they crowded every day after class to continue studying and working on their projects hoping to one day be as awesome as I was and beat one of my movies at least for once, and hell their dream was about to become truth now that I didn't have a movie to display for the class.

Anyway Derek and I took sit in the back of the room next to Missy who was already waiting for us with a bag of popcorn, Missy Missy Missy, she was ready to mock at the Coders movies as always, she was a bitch, and I loved her.

"Why are you guys late?" She asked arching a brow.

She was dark skinned with curly hair up to her shoulders, her eyes were grey and her lips thin, she would look like a beautiful doll if it wasn't because she used to dress like a butch, I secretly suspected that Missy liked girls but I was afraid to ask and offend her, or worse hear her say that she has always known that I was gay so we keep it cool, we didn't judge.

Bit a bit the room started crowding, in matter of minutes the whole room was packed with tons of filmmaking students from different years that as us came to make fun of the rookies' works –yeah that would have included me if I had an actual video to present- and many other students from the other careers that just came to spend a nice afternoon watching shit they wouldn't understand in their life.

By two thirty I was starting to lose my mind, I mean Mr. Anderson was punctual as a clock and he was half an hour late already and plus the morons of the Coders were already boasting to the crown of how amazing their movies were, all trying to call the attention, I hated them, oh how I wished Mr. Anderson showed up to tell them that their movies sucked as usual even if it meant that I was going to get in trouble for not bringing a movie with me.

Okay that was it! Three o'clock and Mr. Anderson didn't seem to show any sign of life, oh god! I was a fucking lucky bastard, or at least that's what I've thought, because right when I was beckoning Derek and Missy to follow me out of the theater to get some hot chocolate a shadow climbed up to the stage, it was a bald bearded man who wore a long coat, his hands were on his pockets and looked at all of us with a big smile.

"Good afternoon everyone" Said the man taking a microphone from one of his pocket and bringing it close to his face, "For those of you who doesn't know me, my name is Robert Mickens and I teach in the acting program as many of you know today we should had been displaying second years' filmmaking and acting joint projects but unfortunately Mr. Anderson has some family problems and had to leave the country a couple of hour…"

"What? No!" Brandon one of the Coders protested and many of his friends joined him.

Oh my god! I was saved! I was saved! I could jump from my seat and kiss that man's bald head!

"We got time!" Derek muttered gleefully, "We got time Stiles!"

Mr. Mickens cleared his throat to call everyone's attention, thought pretty quickly many of the rows of sits were already starting to clear up.

"The evaluation of the project is suspended until February when Mr. Anderson hopes to be back with us, so for now work a little harder in your films and acting and we will be meeting on this same place in two months, have a happy holidays everyone"

Two months! Oh fuck we got two months if that didn't prove the existence of Jesus I don't know what could have.

Now I got time to shoot a kickass film project during the holidays and… "What the hell he meant with joint projects" I asked puzzled.

"Didn't you know?" Missy said frowning.

I shook my head, "What?"

"We were supposed to work with one or two guys from the acting program as cast for our movies, the list is downstairs we had to contact them shoot the movie and don't get our asses in trouble, seriously guys! What's going on with you two?" She asked with concern, "You have been acting weird lately"

"Nothing" I said casually, "We have been _busy_ working on Perry's project" Oh god! Another lie! I have already lost two precious months, I should had been recording by then, Missy was right, what the hell was wrong with me? I was throwing all my effort and my parent's money to the toilet for some guy who probably didn't even remember my name anymore, but that was it! I was definitely going to forget Isaac once and for all and move on!

We got out of the theater being knocked by chilling air, some snowflakes were already starting to fall and all I could think about was my bed, Derek stayed in the theater to check up the list for some acting student's available to work on his project, that was Derek being Derek, we still had two months and he was already working on his stuffs to don't get his ass in trouble.

I wasn't procrastinating, really! I had a plan! I was going to ask Lorey to help me with my project, she was Becca best friend and she was at the acting program so all I had to do was to call her, unfortunately I couldn't see her in the crowd when we left the auditorium so I could ask Becca her number and call her to cast her for my movie, now! Drama… um…. What did you know about drama? Hell my life was full of it, but I didn't work with it as my main theme for a film, so it was complicated, maybe some rest and some cool TV shows could give an idea about it.

I got in my room, took out my scarf and kicked off my shoes, got a chocolate bar from the ones Derek brought me hoping to help me with my mood and took his laptop to do some research on Drama, I opened the computer and typed _"__most awarded drama movies"_and _"__Independent drama movies_" and Started opening the links in new tabs.

My phone buzzed in my pants and I took out while took a bite of the chocolate bar, oh I loved Chocolate! Derek was an angel! I got a new mail I slid the notification bar down and felt a jolt in my arm, fuck! Maybe Derek wasn't as good after all, damn gym! I checked the bar to see the remittent and my heart shuddered in my chest, my mouth went dry and the chocolate bar fall from my hand…it was… it was from Isaac.

I opened the message with my mind still in short circuit and the mail app popped up, the text was brief, it just said "_I think you should watch this_" and below was a link for a video.

I think you should watch this? That was it? After all this time in silence he just decided to show up unannounced and treat me like nothing happened?

I put the phone in the bed and clicked my mail address in the computer's browser, when it opened the link was waiting for me, I clicked it hoping it wasn't spam and a YouTube video started charging , its name was… what I feel about you.

My heart quivered and started throbbing so hard that I started having a headache, a lump climbed to my throat and butterflies fluttered in my stomach, what was all that?

I clicked play and some guy who looked familiar to me appeared in front of the screen, by the quality of the video it was clear that it was recorded by amateurs with a cellphone.

There was a sneer on his face that gave me Goosebumps.

The screen switched from his face and pointed to a crowd of guys among who was Todd, Todd! They were Isaac's friends!

Todd had some sheets of paper in his hands, cleared his throat and started reading.

"The first time I saw you lying against that tree on the campus I thought…"

My ears started buzzing, I couldn't hear anything anymore all I could do was watch them crack in laughs while Todd read, and it was my letter! The letter I wrote for Isaac! Where I scribbled all my secrets and feelings, and now was of public access in a video where anyone could see it and make fun of me, laugh about me for being… for being a fag!

"And I love you Isaac Lahey, and I'll loved you until my heart stops beating" Todd finished right when Derek suddenly closed the laptop in front of me.

I jumped on my place and realized that my face was damp with tears, while he stared at me with red face.

"Why you had to write that?" He yelled at me.

"I…I…" I tried to say, I tried to defend myself to argue that I wouldn't ever believe that Isaac would be so cruel to give my letter to someone else to make fun of me publicly, but the words didn't came out, I was in shocked, speechless.

"Why you had to be so stupid to trust in someone like him? I told you Stiles, I told you to stay away from him, but you never listen to me! You never listen to me!" Derek shouted furiously.

I did nothing, I just… couldn't help it anymore, but one day, for a brief second I forgot about Isaac and his ghost came back to haunt me throw me into a darkest place, I would never get over that, I would never get over the fact that he was somewhere that same momento he was cracking in laughs with his friends as they imagined my face while I watched the video, It hit bottom it so dark in the place where I was now that there wasn't any way that I could ever come back.

I spent that week in my bed again, I lost all the strength I gathered and now all I wanted was to lay in my bed and forget who I was. When Derek's anger flattened he told me that only twenty persons saw the video before he reported it from three different accounts and it was erased, great my reputation was saved! So what? I still saw the video and even though Isaac wasn't in it I could get to see his real face through his friend's it doesn't matter how much time we spent together and how much good memories we had, it was all fake, all a lie he just needed me to get high grades in his classes and that was it, I was nothing to him.

Derek drove us home the next week, he was really concerned about me, I spent days without saying a word and wow even I couldn't remember how was my voice, so while we were in the car he made me promise that I would talk to him whenever he spoke to me or else he was going to tell my parents, and I mean what the fuck? I wasn't a kid anymore! I was twenty I couldn't be blackmailed and less from my best friend, but at the end of the day everyone treated me like a teenager, the same jocks as always mocking at me for being gay, my best friend thinking that my parents could get into my life as if they owned it, and even myself mourning for some guy who didn't love me when I should had been planning a way to make them pay for what they did to me, I wasn't disappointed anymore, I was furious, I wanted to kick their asses and make them feel at least a part of my pain and show them that as them I had feelings and blood in my veins, that even though I was gay I still was a human being.

Now let's talk about my parents, because that is where Derek and I were heading and I was going to spend the next month with them so I think is time for you to know them. First is my dad, bald head, big belly and wide smile, he was a doctor an oncologist to be more specific –yeah that horrible guy who say people that they're probably going to die- He liked fishing and I hated fish so as you can imagine we weren't too close, thought he was always talking about doing things in family because families should be together and everything else, yeah he was the kind of person who thinks that life should be like in the churches brochure, he used to say he didn't mind I was gay but I knew it was only him trying to be a comprehensive and good person, but that didn't mean he wanted to watch me hooking up with some guy.

Then is my mom she was thin and delicate, her hair and eyes were brown like mine, mouth always pressed in a line, and was addicted to anti-aging creams, she had this theory that she looked like a teenage girl until the day I was born and she suddenly aged twenty years and then I came out of the closet and made her turn suddenly forty five when she actually was thirty nine, so yeah! Basically everything was my fault, since the moment I was born and started the suck the life out of her, ok I'm being a little dramatic, my mom wasn't bad, actually she loved me but she didn't know the right ways to show it to me, but there were some moments like one of those times when aunt Mary asked me for my girlfriend and my mom asked her for her husband and then winked at me, I laughed so hard that I had to run upstairs to not hurt aunt Mary's feeling. But of course there were those times when my mom wasn't that awesome like when I told her I was gay and she explained to me I was just confused, because of course she knew more about me than myself, and then started crying telling me that I ruined all her plans and dreams for my weddings and kids, how could I be so selfish and ruin her life? Yeah somehow everything was about herself, so if you want to get alone with my mom all you had to do is always agree with her and tell her how good her food was, which wasn't a lie, my mom was the best chef in the world and that was the only thing I fancied with when we got our winter's break.

My mom waited for us at home when we got there, Derek was my next door neighbor so he just had to drive to the same place, when I climbed the porch's steps my mom hugged me, waved at Derek and shoved me inside, great! Exactly what I needed, excess of attention, our house was big which is stupid because it was only the three of us, at the beginning the plan was to have more children but my mom had an accident when I was three and lost all the chances to get pregnant again, there were five rooms and more furniture than at a store, my mom had this thing about changing the decorating with the season and spent weeks painting the house and picking up new lamps, tables and everything else to match her idea, it kept her busy when she wasn't teaching history at school and killed half-generation of boredom.

My dad was in the kitchen reading the newspaper when I got home, he put it aside when he saw me and stood to give me a hug, and I pretended a smile and sit to have some waffles.

"What's going on with you?" My mom said politely pouring the chocolate in the waffles and handing me the plate.

"Um… nothing" I said a little irate.

"Are you sure Stiles?" My mom said arching a brow.

"Yes mom! I'm alright okay?" I blurted out with anger, I could feel how my ears burned, oh god! I screwed it.

My dad put down the newspaper again and looked at me.

"Easy son what's going on?"

Shit! Less than two minutes in there and I was already in an interrogation room!

"Um…nothing" I mumbled trying to make out a lie to keep them away from my real issues, "I'm just having some problems with a couple of classes" Lied, I was a pretty good liar actually, could have been a good actor or a writer.

Oh shit! What did I just said? Here came the talk …

"Stiles Stilinski! Do you have any idea of how much expensive is that career that you…"

And that was basically my dad's concerns, money! And I spent a lot of it, I mean you can't count how many hoodies I have in my closet, but despise the cameras I got and some other two or three gadgets I didn't make him lose much money! But hell there he was… yelling at me for ruining my future and his bank account's future, and the worst part was… that it was all a lie, I mean I still had to record that stupid video for Mr. Anderson's class and that was it, I wasn't forgetting another class, right?

My dad forgot the whole thing like two days later, but first I had to promise that I was going to try harder to get good grades. My mom backed a Cake for my birthday but I wasn't in the mood for parties so we had an intimate reunion, just my parents Derek and Allison, I remember that when I was a kid I used loved to tell people that my birthday was on December it made me feel especial, always invited everyone in my class to assist to a party in my home, only Derek came, most part of my class went out of the city by winter break so I always spent the day alone but Derek always found the way to make it a good day, and even after all those years there he was, in my home in especial day holding me, not letting me fall, oh Jesus! If Allison ever broke his heart and I was going to kill her.

I think Derek told my mom something about Isaac or at least gave her a hint of what was going on with me, because suddenly she developed this need to spend time with me that was driving me crazy, she was decorating the house for Christmas and kept going up and down the town, and for some reason I had to take her in her own car, so it was mother-son season, okay I was being a Grinch my mom was trying to be nice and I wouldn't let her because I was too busy complaining about Isaac…. Oh shit! I was becoming Kelly! After that disturbing thought I tried to chill out a little and smile more often for mom, actually we had a good time those days in the stores, getting new curtains, wallpaper, new silverware and our Christmas tree, it kept my mind busy and seemed to make mom happy so I felt good with it.

On Christmas morning I woke up at six am, if there was something I really loved about Christmas was the morning when I got to open the presents, it didn't matter how old I was now, opening the presents felt like when I was eight not so little to not remember and not too old to get boring stuffs like clothes, so I ran downstairs still wearing my reindeer's pajama –yup I really loved the season- and throw myself below the three in the living room, there were many boxes below the three and some had my name on them, Christmas it didn't matter how bad I was feeling it always made me smile.

So I took the colorful wrapped boxes tagged with my name and went to the kitchen to open them while I was having a glass of milk and crackers. Books! I got four brand new books from my favorite authors Oh Santa! You chubby bastard you definitely knew me! My mom god a leather jacket that made me look like a bad boy, hell yeah! And my dad a new lens for my camera, best Christmas ever!

After unwrapping my parents presents I found one that said from Allison and Derek, oh they were so nice with me, I felt so wrong for not getting something for Allison besides and rock album she had been looking for ages, I hoped it was enough, never mind they got me Native's Culture special edition box set with a compilation of all their albums in vinyl format, Hell! How did they do that? It wasn't going to be on sale until March! At the back of the box was a note fastened, it was scribbled with Allison's handwriting, it said, "_I know someone"_fuck! I hoped that that someone hadn't find her the album I got her for Christmas.

I was so happy, actually I ran upstairs and got a hot bath, and I really need it, the air was so cold! Nothing better than a steamy shower and then take cover inside a cozy brand new leather jacket. I got from my desk the Game of thrones box set I got for Derek as Christmas present and went downstairs, I opened the door and outside was waiting the mail, there were a few letters and two boxes, one of those definitely should be my moms' new salad's bowl for new year's dinner, the other box had my name on it!

I tugged the boxes inside and the letters and sat on the carpet to open this new present, attached to the tie was a note, it said. "_Have a nice Christmas betch used it wisely. Jame_s" James? How did Jim know my address? I frowned as I opened the box, use it wisely? What did he meant with it? What he got for me? I finished opening the box and…

"Stiles!" My mom screeched horrified, as I gaped staring at the dildo I was holding in my hand.

Oh that son of the bitch!

I had to explain mom that it was all a misunderstanding and we got Mrs. Greenberg's mail by mistake, and then trashed the dildo in the dumpster meanwhile I would have to wait till January to kick Jim's ass.

When I was sure the dildo was deep inside the trash can where no one could ever find it I jumped the fence and got next door, cleaned my shoes in the verandah's carpet as much as I could before ringing the bell, I knew how much Mrs. Hale hated germs and dirt on her house. She greeted me with a grin, as always, she had a long head with fair skin and some freckles, her hair was brown and silky and her eyes blue as the ocean, watching at Mrs. Hale was pretty much like staring at Derek himself, they were both like porcelain dolls thin and graceful with their sparkling azure eyes and their delicate but fleshy lips.

"Merry Christmas Stiles" She said to me when she opened the door, giving me a big hug.

"Merry Christmas Mrs. M" I replied with a grin and hugged her back.

"Stiles! Look what Santa brought me!" Said Susie's voice running into the foyer.

"Susan!" Her mom said pressing her lips in a thin line, "Don't run with that thing in the house!"

Susie was six, she was one of those surprises that life gives you when you're already on your forties and instead of rising a kid you should be thinking about your retirement fund, she had golden curly hair like her dad and her mom's and Derek's blue eyes, she seemed all beautiful and gentle on her outside but she was pretty reckless on her inside, like that one time when they challenged her childcare that she wouldn't eat a cockroach and she eat it and it actually it seemed like she liked the taste, so my advice for whoever met Susie when she turned fifteen or so, don't mess with her!

"Stiles! Stiles! Look what Santa brought me!" She repeated showing me a bike of her size, with cherry seat and grips and a pale pink rims, she seemed delighted with it and by the scratches in her knees I assumed that she was already learning how to ride it.

"It's beautiful" I said stroking her hair.

"It's awesome!" She mumbled getting ready to get out.

"Susan! What I've told you? Get a sweater before going out!" Her mom said upset.

Susie's chin hit her collarbone while she pouted her lips and she trudged inside.

"How's Mr. M?" I asked when the girl left.

"He's better honey, thanks for asking" Derek's mom replied before patting me in the back to encourage me to climb the stairs.

Derek's room was the second door at the left, the one with the indie rock bands posters and barricade tape, I didn't remember when was the last time I stepped inside Derek's home, since we left for college it was like we forgot about home I mean collage is just two hours away on car, but we weren't used to come unless on holidays, part of my excuse was to get out of the mad house and the town that brought me so many bad memories, but I didn't know what was Derek's excuse then only bad thing in his life were his dad's migraines that could kept him tied to a bed for days, but it wasn't that bad either.

I didn't knock, it would be like asking permission to get into my own room, so instead I gripped the box set in my hands and opened the door, Derek was already awake sit before his desk back to the door, facing his computer and clicking some… links on a video… He craned his neck to look at the newcomer in his room, and the box set fall from my hand while Derek quickly closed his laptop's screen.

He told me, repeated me that it was the last time, that they wouldn't be able to hang another video in their lives but I didn't pay attention to him, all I could think was that how many times he had to report their video and channel and still they got uploading it over and over, why? What did I did to them? Why they hated me so much? It was as if the idea of me existing, being alive, ruined their day, so they had to make my life miserable so they could feel better with themselves.

You don't have to be too smart to know that they ruined my Christmas, after watching Derek reporting the video in secret I just left, he followed but I beckoned him to let me alone, the less we needed was our parents over us asking questions, we were grownups already we had to face problems as grownups did, denying them.

I denied everything to myself, I wasn't hurt, I wasn't crying anymore I was burning inside with anger and frustration, I spent that week in my room fancying about becoming a hunk at gym to kick their asses and teach them to not mess up with me or any other gay guy, but let's face it, I was going to become a hunk any time soon and didn't know how to fight, and they were eight and I was alone, or at least that's what I thought.

On New Year's Eve I had to wear a ridiculous tuxedo to not make my mom's anger flare, it always was a stressful date at home, my mom became a momzilla or something and dad and I had to do everything she wanted or else we would end up eating leftovers until the end of the winter's break so I put on my clothes in silence in my room while I looked through the window at the city lights by night, it was beautiful the snow was already falling hard and some streets were impassable. By nine o'clock as usual we had to be at the table which mom spent the whole day decorating, an stylish tablecloth with gold lace to match the new silverware, porcelain dishes with gold halos on them, in the center of the table was the roasted turkey next the gravy, smashed potatoes and peas, Christmas cake on a side and cookies for dessert, fruits from all kinds ornamented the rest of the table, all full day work for just the three of us while in the next door Hale family spend their new year's eve with all the family which included Derek's grandparents aunts and uncles and his cousins, our family wasn't as close as Derek's so I didn't know what was like to have the house full of people in that date, but I felt a little envy of them.

The dinner was delicious as always, my mom always worked so hard and even though she acted like crazy on those days it all deserved her work and I ate gleeful all the things she cooked, it is stupid I know after all the shit I went through that year but… for a second I… imagined having that same dinner with my parents and Isaac, it would have been nice well until I recalled the videos and the fact that he and his friends were probably somewhere making fun of me and the anger started scorching me inside.

At ten we left home and headed the square to receive the New Year with the rest of our neighbors, I wasn't in the mood for social interacting but as I said my mom acted like crazy that day and suggesting the idea of staying home would make her become in medusa or some kind of shit. So we went out of home, at least I got to take off the tuxedo and wear something more Stiles, like jeans a furred coat, gloves for the cold air and a scarf, it was really chilling outside. All the streets were packed with people especially teens playing with firecrackers and ladies yelling at them, the air had this scent of gunpowder that made you feel thrilled as if something was about to happen, I don't wanna imagine how it would have been in the war people would have probably died of anxiety.

We joined the Thompsons in the snow packed square, everyone was awaiting for the bells announcing the New Year to watch the fireworks, Derek and his family got twenty minutes after us which was good because I was sick of listening Mrs. Thompson talking about dogs, though I wasn't sure if I wanted to see Derek, I mean I wasn't mad at him but I felt somehow betrayed for hiding from me the fact that Isaac and his friends kept posting the video online, I don't know it was like intervening in my life on my backs, never mind he joined us and I got a little startled to not see Allison with him, I don't know I was so used to watch them together that when one of them wasn't around it was like there was something missing but Allison couldn't spend all the holidays with us her parents would kick her out of her house or something.

At twelve the bells rang and everybody erupted in cheers and yells of joy, there were tons of fireworks flying in the air, suddenly the night sky was filled with yellow sparks that exploded opened like flowers of light that bathed us in colors, it was beautiful and somehow reassuring, shitty last year was finally over, I could forget in peace.

At three in the morning after the outburst of hugs and best wishes exchanged by everyone I decided to go back home, while my parents got drunk with the Thompsons and embarrassed me in front of the whole neighborhood acting like teenagers. On my way back home the streets were all empty, it was comforting to be alone and away the noise for a while, I forgot how was to hear my own thoughts, all the houses shone with the lights and the snow, some people even throw to the air some lanterns and they flew on the sky while I paced back home I felt happy for once in a while.

I didn't know Derek was following me until I got home and before I got a chance to climb the stairs a pickup truck stopped in front of me and he climbed down from the back accompanied by some dark shapes.

"Hey sweetie" Said Liam's voice from the driver's seat.

I frowned "What… what are you guys doing here?" I said as Cass jumped down and lifted me with his broad arms.

"Cass! Put me down" I protested.

"Not chance Stiles, we're going on a ride" Jim said as the fumes of his cigarette came of his mouth and nose at once.

"You bastard! Why did you have to get me a dildo for Christmas?" I roared.

"He what?" Derek chocked with his drink as his eyes opened wide and all the vodka burst out from his nose while he grimaced and chuckled.

He deserved it!

"Relax Stiles he did the same to all of us" Freddy laughed giving me a New Year's hug.

Oh the snicker in Jim's lip made me want to kick… wait a second… What I was so mad? They were right it was just a joke, they rode all the way down here just to see me I know I was having a bad time but I couldn't treat them like shit just because I felt like it.

"Can you at least tell me what's going on?" I asked as Cass shoved me in the back of the truck as a sack of flour, next to a massive metal block and what looked like a pack of raincoats.

"Derek called us" Jim said arching a brow and offering me a cigarette.

I shook my head and glared at Derek, what did exactly meant Derek called us?

"Alright betches hold on!" Liam yelled from the front seat and turned on the engine.

He started driving while I hugged my legs and looked through the back of the truck at the snow packed road.

"Take a drink, it will keep you warm" Derek screamed over the rush of the wind that ruffled his hair.

"Derek what the hell did you tell them?" I yelled.

He made me signs that he couldn't hear me, yeah right!

Jim pushed Hip aside and sat next to me to make me drink the beery and cheap vodka they were having.

"You're rich you son of the bitch couldn't you at least bring something decent?" I said hiding a smirk.

"If you wanna stay warm nothing better than cheap booze to keep you alive" He replied grinning.

"Please don't tell me you're gonna take to a strip club or something embarrassing like it" I begged, the less I needed was more humiliation.

"Hey good idea! Hey Liam!" He cried standing.

"Shut up!" I grunted taking him by the collar of his designer's shirt to make him sit.

Liam drove for forty minutes, the most part of the trip was in silence because we couldn't hear each other under the rush of the wind against our ears. I kept my eyes on the track behind us as we drove out of the city, it was amazing to stare at the town from the hills on New Year's early morning, the lights of the buildings and the fireworks were so bright and colorful, it was like watching a moving postal card. There wasn't much snow in the field where we stopped, the guys climbed down of the truck a little dizzy because the bastards wouldn't stop drinking in the whole ride.

The ground was soft and full of undergrowth plants with some spots of melted snow here and there, it was all dark except for the truck's lights so I was a little scared I might fall on a hole or slip down the hill.

"Can you tell me now why are we here?" I asked to the shadow holding the just lit cigarette which assumed was Jim.

"Having some fun Stiles isn't that obvious?"

"I…" Derek's voice started a little ashamed.

Oh I was so mad at him.

Cass jumped down of the truck and Tim and him carried the metal box out the pickup's trunk and placed it in the ground while Liam and Freddy dragged the bump that looked like raincoats far away from the steep ground.

A smell of gas filled the air and an engine started roaring, what? A power plant?

Jim patted me in the back and left to help Liam and Freddy unroll whatever they got in their hands.

"I'm sorry" Derek said standing next to me. "Is just that I'm concerned about you"

"And what Derek? You though that by calling them all my problems will be solved? That Isaac and his stupid friends will stop hating me?" I growled like a wounded animal, balling my hands, I couldn't believe Derek called them what the hell was he thinking?

"Hey!" Tim said with anger on his voice, "Don't talk to him that way, he's a really good guy who cares about you!" Scolded me.

Fine exactly what I needed, being chastised by a guy who doesn't even dare to talk to a bartender.

"He is right" Hip agreed joining us, "Derek is a rare thing" Said and I swear I could see his eyes shining in the darkness while he stared at Derek.

Anger flared in my chest.

"Is ready!" Liam said exited stepping back as the…. Bouncy castle? Inflated.

What the hell?

"Get your asses down here betches!" Jim said cheerful and the rest of the guys joined them before the bouncy castle and started getting inside it to jump.

Okay I had to laugh, I had to laugh my ass out! What the hell was wrong with them?

"Aren't you going?" I said looking at Derek when Hip left us alone.

He shook his head, "I'll wait you here"

Wait me? I wasn't going to get inside that ridiculous thing!

"Come on Stiles!" Liam called me.

I ignored him.

"Stiles! Stiles! Stiles!" Called me all of them and were making a lot of noise, oh god it was so stupid!

With my cheeks burning I approached to make them shut up, it was a large bouncy castle with blue towers crowned with red flags and the entrance was… A clown's head! Oh no! There wasn't any way I was going to get inside that shit.

Jim pulled me by the collar of my shirt and tugged me inside.

_Bastard!_

And yeah! There they were, my gay friends jumping like toddlers inside a bouncy castle on New Year's morning, there wasn't any more bizarre thing on the planet.

"Take this" Jim told me while I struggled to stay on foot while the other bounced like idiots.

He was handling me a cigarette?

I shook my head.

"Trust me Stiles you're gonna like it" He said with a grin.

I took the god damn cigarette a put it on my mouth and sucked it, its texture was softer than the other kind of cigarettes I was used and the taste was different.

"Hold it in your throat until you can't help it anymore" Jim told me as I started feeling how my ears burned and my head swayed, my heart bouncing at the guy's jump rhythm.

"What is this?" I said with my mind clouded, I wanted to puke so bad!

"Weed!" Jim said in a chuckle.

Oh that son of the bitch!

"Jump Stiles, jump to the sky!" He yelled.

I sucked a little more and hold it the smoke in my throat and them jumped, my heart rate accelerated and my stomach plunged down, the uneven soil of the bouncy castle vanished beneath me and I was flying, the lights of the city and the fireworks mixed in a neon swirl that made me gap. Up high in the sky thousands of stars giggled at me moved from all directions some lit on fire and fell over the hill. I was jumping so high that the world turned upside down and now I was falling over the sky, bathing in its darkness while light fishes tingled my cheeks and nibbled my toes.

My conscience suddenly went back an hour later, I was lying on the floor next to Freddy and Jim staring at the starts that just stopped moving.

"I wish I could have had someone like him" Freddy said and I jerked up.

"Who?" I said coming back to reality.

"Like Derek" Jim said giggling.

"Wait a second… Hadn't you paying attention?" Liam said offended.

"I'm sorry I don't remember the last two hours" I said dizzy, who in the hell had the idea of get me high? "Where is Derek anyway?" I asked trying to find him among the faces staring at the sky, ahead in the horizon was already a coppery line at announced the beginning of a new day full of possibilities, of fuck! I was so wasted!

"He's on the truck sleeping" Jim explained pointing at the silhouette of the pickup in the darkness "You don't have to be mad at him, he was really concerned about you"

Suddenly I felt something cold running down my belly to the thought of Derek, it was truth Derek did all that because of me, called them because he didn't have any more ideas of how cheering me up, he was the best friend in the world and I thanked him by yelling at him, even then he didn't yell back, oh god I didn't' deserve him.

"If I would had someone like him in my life I wouldn't have taken that bottle of pills" Said Freddy with resentment in his voice.

"You're fine now and it is all that matters" Cass said cheerful next to him.

I jerked up, my heart pounding against my ribs "What happened to you?" I asked unable to get it.

"You know the same that happened to you" Freddy explained with sadness, "I fell for a guy who didn't love me back" Said with sorrow on his voice.

"Derek told all you guys about what happened to me?" I asked embarrassed.

"There is no reason to be ashamed Stiles we have all been there" Jim said with sadness.

It was him who made jump on my feet and stare at all of their gloom faces dimly illuminated by the dawn's first rays.

"It's not the same, I fall for a jackass who didn't even know if he was gay or straight or bisexual or a fucking Alien!" I grunted feeling a lump climbing to my throat.

"And yet, you gave him everything, every little piece of who you were, helped him with his problems, hugged him when he was sad, swallowed your needs for crying while you watched him flirting with a girl and forgave him for everything he did every day to you" Liam added.

What?

"It happened to me too" Tim said sniffing now see his eyes glistening.

"I still remember Alan telling me that I was the best friend in the world, and that he loved and would love me no matter what" Freddy sniveled.

Their words.

"And I won't forget how David used to fall asleep on my lap while we watched a movie at home and I used to think, wow! I could watch him sleep forever" Tim intervened.

I saw myself in their words.

"Mark got drunk often, he had too much issues at home and I just… I just used to take him to the bath to puke and then washed his face and changed his clothes" Liam recalled and I couldn't help look at him "And I used to think how life could be this cruel with someone as beautiful and kind as him? A tear slid down his cheek.

I saw myself and Steve in their words, their stories.

"And then everything changed" Tim said with deception in his voice. "He needed me more than ever, and I was happy because it meant we could spend time together"

"Sucked the life out of me, made me believe that I only lived for him, I lost everything and everyone else in my life" Liam added.

"And then he left and took everything with him, my heart, my dreams, my hopes, my happiness all gone" Jim agreed with them, his voice broke something inside my chest and I had to sit to no gag with my pain.

"I think it happens to all of us" Hip added with sadness. "Last week a kid just committed suicide for being bullied by the guy he loved, he uploaded his goodbye on YouTube it was disturbing"

"I saw it" Cass agreed.

Cass too? My friends all went through the same things I did, and we were all somehow survivors, we could have taken the easy way, but we held on for some reason, mine had a name and it was Derek, they all knew what I was coming through and understood my feelings, suddenly I got an idea maybe I should tape a video about my friends for Mr. Perry's class about how we were all different in many ways but at the same time had some similitudes in us.

"It happened to us Stiles, too all of us" Jim said hoarsely, "There are some guys who play with you, makes you feel like they need you, tell you that they love you, get all confused, use you and then dumps you like trash, because they are afraid of being a fag like you"

"And people treat us like shit" Liam snorted. "If people knew them, learned how recognize the horrible human beings that they are they would stop underestimating us"

He was right, I was mad! Why everything had to be so unfair? Why they got to continue with their lives as if anything happened while he sunk and lost everything in our way down? Why we have to be treated that way? What did we did to them?

"I wish we could get revenge" Tim said with disappointment in his voice, "I mean not just Stiles or us but everyone, all of the gay boys that once in their life had been victims of this people, show them that we are not defenseless against them, expose them to show them how it feels, and make the world hates them at least a part of how much they hate us"

I jerked up gaping.

"It is impossible how are we going to do that?" Freddy snorted incredulous.

I tugged my phone out of my pockets and pointed at me with the camera and Started recording.

"Hello world, my name is Stiles and I'm just about to introduce you the most Horrible human beings in the world" I said despiteful.

And that's how it all started.


	3. Chapter 3

According to society there are seven kinds of pariahs in the world. Politics, people that don't pay taxes, drug addicts, clowns –yeah everybody hates clowns-, robbers, rapists and in the top of the list gay people and by gay people I mean the whole LGBT community but everything was about to change. Have you ever had this feeling that you might be the epicenter of the apocalypse? Well I had, we were going to make the whole world to crumble by giving them a new kind of people to hate, themselves. There isn't a better way to make people freak out than make them realize that they probably are what they hate most and that is what horrible human beings project was about, to make them pay for being so mean with gay people, especially the guys that started all this.

I didn't tell Derek about my plan because I knew he was going to start yelling at me about how wrong my idea for cinematography class was so I kept it in secret from him at least in the beginning. The betches came back to the town the next morning after I started planning everything, we were going to meet right after winter break to start with the strategy.

I spent the rest of the winter break at my room, writing for myself the whole Stikey story and highlighting every little detail that seemed important to analyze how it affected my relationship with Isaac taking us both to where we ended. I knew Isaac loved me, I mean he even said it and the way he reacted to my letter by giving it to his friends only proved my point, he was in love with me and he totally freaked out because he was afraid of his feelings so he gave my letter to them, I was sure he was going to tell me he was in love with me in our anniversary when he never came, and then he handed his friends the letter and thought he could get away with it, oh how wrong he was!

The plan was simple, for my documentary project the betches and I were going to take these boys that fitted Isaac's profile and expose them in Mr. Perry's class and I don't know maybe I could upload the video on YouTube too, I would give a liver for watching Isaac's and his friends faces when they saw the video it would definitely make them pay back for everything they did to me.

My mood rose, I mean I wasn't crying in the corners anymore and instead kept a smile on my face always! My family noticed the change in me especially my mom that for some reason seemed pretty preoccupied, maybe she was afraid I might have someone in my life, but I didn't care what they though, I was happy truly happy for what I was going to do and the impact it might have in the world. Derek liked to see me smile again and I couldn't thank him enough for what he did, yeah I now I was mad at him at the beginning of the bizarre road trip but things turned out fine at the end, it help me realize that I wasn't alone that I never was, that out there gay kids from all the world were having the same issues than I, that people were being rude to them, bullying them for the only reason of being alive, for existing, how can you hate someone without know them? It's funny but it seemed like that was the way the world worked.

That trip changed something inside me, it gave me new reasons to live and something in what believe, the idea of telling the rest of the gays in the world that they weren't alone that many others were coming through the same issues made me feel powerful, made me feel that I was doing something meaningful with my life, and now the betches and I were an order, the avengays like a support group with the exception that we were really going to do something about our problems, we were going to tell people hey assholes here we are! And were not as different as you think!

Sunday before of the end of the winter break I went into Derek's home for the drive back college, I said good bye to my parents and got into the car, Derek's mom baked some cupcakes for us and I spent the whole trip eating them up and smearing Derek's face with frosting every time I tried to feed him with them while he drove, I laughed so hard! It was like the old times though he was pretty quiet in the way back but he smirked once or twice while I showed them the pictures Liam took of me high in the bouncy castle.

It was a silvery afternoon when we got back collage, the whole campus was covered by snow and the frozen air almost made me want to stay in the car until spring, but Derek managed to drag me out of the car to help him take our stuffs back in our dorm, we waved some friends while we walked back in our dorm, now I didn't see Isaac wherever I walked, instead I saw possible locations for videotaping my plan.

Many of our class mates were already getting back in their dorms too though most of them wouldn't show up in the first week, no one ever got to class in the first week it was like a tradition.

Derek inserted the key in its slot while I carried our suitcases. He opened the door and I pushed him aside to get in, shit I was freezing my ass out there.

I left the luggage in the floor and prepared to jump into my bed to hide below my quilt when I saw a shadow comfortably lying in Derek's bed.

"Jim!" I said shocked.

"Hey betch" He replied casually his eyes still on the book he was reading.

"How in the hell you got in here?" I demanded.

"I used my credit card" Jims aid with a snicker on his lips "I told you Stily, credit cards solve any kind of issue"

"Hey Jimmy" Derek said listlessly starting to take his clothes back in his drawer, he was too quiet.

"I told you to not call me Jimmy!" Jim said a little angry but Derek just ignored him.

"Hey guys! Happy new year!" Said a female voice from the door.

Allison was right behind us with her arms open wide, she hooked them to Derek's neck and kissed him.

"Gross" Jim said with a sneer.

"Oh you just didn't say that you cock-su…" Allison started but I cut her off.

"Can't you guys stop? The year just started!" I protested.

"What are you doing here anyway?' Asked Derek staring at Jim with pointy eyes.

"I just came because I hadn't anything else to do and since Stily doesn't wanna tell what he's planning for…"

Oh shit! He was going to ruin it! I didn't tell him that Derek didn't know anything about it.

"My week!" I quickly completed the sentence for him, "He's talking about my plans for the week!"

Derek and Allison stared at me with crested brows.

Jim stood and walked toward me, shoving his hands in his coat's pockets.

"Gross!" Allison said eloquently "Are you guys sleeping together?" She asked with mock in her face.

"What?" Jim and I said at unison.

"Are you high or something?" I said chuckling.

"What? You too are gay so I…"

Oh! She just didn't say that.

"Oh my god! You are as racist as a poc joke in Hanukah!" Jim snorted a little scandalized

"What's wrong with it?" She said not getting the whole thing.

"God Allison! Jim is one of the betches sleeping with him would be like having sex with my brother or something" I said grimacing.

"But..." She started again.

"Leave them alone Allison Stiles doesn't have to sleep with Jim just because you want to" Derek said glaring at her.

"Unless you wanna watch!" Jim suggested with a sneer, "Are you one of those girls? Do you have fantasies about gay guys having sex?" He asked staring at her mockingly.

"No! It's just that I was happy because Stiles' virginity at this point is…"

Oh fuck! What did she just said?

I was going to kill her I was going to fucking…

Jim let out the biggest snort in the history of humanity "You are a virgin?" said looking straight at me, I could feel his eyes drilling my head looking for the answer, "You said you just didn't have much action in your life not that you…"

My cheeks burned, oh god I was pathetic.

"I'm not a virgin!" I lied blatantly "I just don't have sex in front of everybody"

"You're not a virgin?" Derek said shocked looking at me suspiciously.

Oh I was so mad at him! I couldn't believe he told Allison, why he had to tell her? What they have been talking about me that made the subject just come out? I was so angry! Shit!

"Yay someone popped your cherry!" Jim laughed

I came back to reality detaching my glare from Derek.

"So you had a boyfriend a least once right?" Allison said dumbfounded.

I lied again by nodding, oh god! I was so pathetic, twenty one years old and virgin with no idea of men and plus apparently my sex life was trending topics on everybody's mouth.

"Well you soon will have one anyway so…" Jim started.

Oh god! "Can you just shut up please?" I protested angrily shoving him out of the room.

"Stiles…" Derek said at my back as I strode out of the dorms. I didn't care what he had to say I was so mad, if I stopped I could have said something that I was going to regret later, so I preferred to ignore him.

When Jim and I got out of the dorm the sun was already down and all the street lights were being turned on, we walked for a while in silence while my cheeks scorched, I knew Jim knew I was lying, he knew me, he knew as much as Derek did well maybe not that much but well enough to tell when I was lying.

"Don't worry Stily I can take you…"

"If you say with a prostitute you better run" I said glaring at him.

"Sorry" He said hiding a snicker.

A cold breeze disheveled my hair and I shivered, I didn't want to get back to the dorm, so instead I asked Jim go with me to the pizza place down the avenue, I needed something to stay warm and we could chat a little about our plans.

As usual the pizza place was stacked with people, many gangs came to spend the days fooling around and getting something to eat, and how it was the end of the winter break at least one hundred were inside. We were lucky that just when we got in there a table just emptied so we hurried to sit before someone else noticed.

Next to us were a table packed with jocks, great! We just ignored them, Jim asked for a double peperoni pizza and we talked about our holydays while we waited. Jim kept talking about how he refused to join his parents in their trip to France because he couldn't stand his brothers but I wasn't paying much attention to him, my mind was still with the fact that Derek told Allison about my sex life and couldn't keep wondering what else he could have told her, well there wasn't much to say anyway, I mean I was an open book and always ended up telling them everything because I was so dramatic.

Dramatic! Oh shit screenwriting! I totally forgot about it. AGAIN!

"Are you listening to me betch?"

"What? Sorry" I said coming back to reality "I was just thinking about a project I have to do, what happened?"

"Behind you" He muttered, "Is a guy so hot that I wouldn't mind to wear him as a coat"

What?

I slowly started to turn…

"Don't" Jim stopped me, "He will notice, you better make like you're going to the bathroom and take a look"

I stood and turned on my heels to head to the bathroom, with my eyes right in the table of the jocks, I didn't have to ask Jim to know which one he was talking about, I know I say this a lot but in front of me was the most hot guy I've ever seen in my miserable life.

He was tall with spiky straw hair, small features and squared jaw, short and thin lips that where just turned upright in a smile while he ducked the ketchup that his jocks friends were shooting at him, he licked some of the sausage from the corner of his mouth and…

I stumbled with something, more specifically I stumbled with someone, I remember the hot cheese slightly burning the side of my face when the pizza fell from the waiter's arm and then we both ended up in the floor.

I quickly stood and helped the guy stand but he jerked his arm out furiously "I'm so…" I started and met my eyes with his hazel ones… he looked familiar but I couldn't remember from where but something shuddered inside me accompanied by a disgusting feeling in my chest, he was angry yelling at me, Jim hurried to tell him to calm down and paid the pizza I ruined and took me out of there.

Ok forget about not going to class in the first week I need to put my ass to work on Mr. Anderson's project as soon as possible, so the next day I called Becca to ask her for Lorey's number, she gave it to me and called her, unfortunately Lorey had already work with someone else in her project and obviously couldn't work with me too, fuck! I needed to find someone in the acting program before it was February, I could have asked Derek if he knew about someone else who needed a mate for the project but I still was mad at him so I ignored him when he asked me that morning if I wanted to have breakfast with Allison and her friends, I knew he was trying to apologize, every time I got mad at him he tried to take me to have breakfast or lunch or some other place that involved food as if I was an stupid dog or something, geez!

That afternoon after class I went to the theater that was obviously closed because there wasn't any projects to be evaluated during those days, thought outside the double doors were a list of names of second year students in the acting program with their phone numbers, I took a pic with my phone and went back to the dorm to make some calls.

Derek was there already, and he talked to me about the awesome breakfast they had that morning as if he were trying to make me feel jealous or something, but I just ignored the idiot and tugged out my phone to write the numbers in a sheet of paper and start calling at them.

I called at least thirty four persons and the answer was always the same, they had already work with somebody else, damn it! I at least had another eighty phone numbers but I was starting to lose my hopes, on the call number seventy seven a girl named Clarisse or something told me that she wasn't available because she was already working with some guy –fuck that probably was Derek- but one of her friends hadn't work in the project yet because couldn't find a partner, great! She gave me the number and hurried to dial before it was too late.

"Hello?" Said a confused voice from the other side of the line.

"Um… Hi" I said a little embarrassed, I wasn't expecting it was a guy. "My name is Michael Stilinski and I'm on filmmaking I'm calling because a friend of yours told me you hadn't a partner for you joint project and I was wondering if you would like to work with me"

"Is this about the drama thing?" Asked the voice still confused.

"Yeah, I hadn't work on my project either so…"

"Yes! Of course I would like" Said Excited, "God! I thought I wouldn't be able to present anything"

"So do you mind if we meet at seven in the park?" I asked.

"I can't" Replied with frustration in his voice "Gotta work till nine uh… what about eleven in the theater?" Suggested.

"The theater? Isn't closed?" I said arching a brown.

"I…can get us in"

I had to think a moment about it, I mean it was pretty late in the night so I wouldn't have much time to sleep and that "_I can get us in"_ sounded like he was planning on doing something illegal but in other hand, I didn't had other choice I was running out of time and I needed to record something.

"Okay I'll meet you there at eleven" I agreed not much convinced and cut the call.

Derek asked me where in the hell was I going that late but I ignored him again, every time he opened his mouth I just wanted to shove one of his dirty socks inside it to shut him up, so I grabbed my bag with the camera I got from storage that afternoon and got out of the room.

The campus was a little alive that night that only meant that many people were still reluctantly to accept the fact that the holidays were over, I paid no mind the sound of the music and the flashing lights coming from the different dorms and strode to the theater. I got there a quarter before eleven, I liked to be punctual when it was about work, and plus that way I could get some extra time to think about the screenwriting, I had no idea about what to write, but I worked pretty fine under pressure.

I reached the doors to take a look at the list of students in the acting program and I wondered how many of them would someday become real actors when I noticed that the double doors were slightly ajar, I pushed one and it moved back, I was freezing so I didn't think twice to hurl myself in, the entrance was warmer than the outside, and it was dark, I didn't dare to look for a light switch because I could get my ass in trouble if someone found me inside, instead I walked in in the darkness guided by my phone's flashlight. There were some dim lights over the stage, did that meant that my partner was already in there? I slowly approached feeling my steps echoing in the displaying room, there was something soothing an disturbing about the all those empty seats at my back I almost could feel as if they were staring at me, Stily Stilinski approaching the stage to get his first Academy Award for best movie, the crowd roars and my body trembles while I hold the statue and turn on my heels to meet the astonished and jealous multitude.

I smiled and then heard steps at my back, my heart skipped a beat and I turned, there was no one behind me, but I could swear…

Another step. I slowly paced around the large screen looking both sides expecting to find someone in there, there were more thuds, furious steps and then I understood that they came from the back room. I held my things tight and approached the door at the left corner of the screen, when I opened it an intense light blinded me. I was inside a huge room filled with large mirrors instead of walls, the floor was made of wood and at the end of the room I could see a dark shape doing pushups in the floor.

I blinked and looked again.

"You can't be here" Said an odious familiar voice of a man as the shape enlarged and approached me.

Oh crap!

"You are the one who can't be here, it is late night you can get your sorry ass in trouble" I said staring at the gym's idiot in front of me.

He frowned and I gaped. I recognized him! He wasn't just the moron from the gym but… the guy from the other day in the pizza place, the waiter with who I stumbled.

"What are you grilled girl doing here?" He said despiteful.

"Seriously?" I snorted "Are you seriously calling me girl? You look like a ballerina boy in those thighs" I chuckled as I stared as his soaked top tank shirt and his black tights that were so taut that I could see every muscle in his legs, yeah including you know what.

"How did you call me?" He asked angrily his hazel eyes flaring.

Oh god what was I doing? I just… I just couldn't help it! He was a jerk and I didn't know anything about fighting but in other hand how difficult could it be to be beat this asshole?

"I don't care what are you doing here, I came to meet with someone and I don't have time for a… oh wait… don't tell me you are in the acting program" I said with disappointment.

"You are Michael Stilinski?" He asked suspiciously.

Fuck!

"Wow! You don't sound like a girl over the phone" He said with snicker.

"You neither" I replied rolling my eyes, fuck I was so screwed! I was going to fail in Mr. Anderson's project just because I couldn't find a partner, shit! I almost could hear the coder's teasing me for not bringing a film to the class.

I turned on my heels to get out of there before I said something else that might get my ass kicked, it was the last I needed, damn! Maybe I could call Mr. Anderson and tell I didn't find someone, no! I couldn't my film was supposed to be filmed by December if he found out… Maybe I could convince Allison to… but would they allow me to use her? Fuck that! I was so mad at her!

"You're late by the way" He said at my back.

"Late? I'm fifteen minutes early" I replied with the anger bursting in my chest.

"If we are going to work together you better learn that when I say one hour you have to be one earlier"

"What? I'm not working with you, I rather to be…."

"Crushed by girl's weight in the pressure bench?" He asked chuckling.

Fuck this guy I hated him! I turned again.

"You need me Michael Stilinski!" He said sternly at my back, "There can't be a movie without an actor, and… I'm an awesome actor by the way"

I snorted.

"You need me more than I need you, there can't be actors without movies" I pointed out, "And if you act the same way you wait tables or dress I don't want to ruin your promising career"

"There isn't anyone else available, I've already checked, I couldn't find a partner in October and… I thought I was going to fail the class"

Fuck!

"Do you have your script already written?"

I doubted a second, I needed him but I couldn't let him know that, it would only inflate more his ego, maybe it was better to fail screenwriting.

"Actually I don't" I said with a sneer "I'm an artist, I work with what I have in hand and do my best under pressure. Can you handle that?"

"I think you found your man" He assured with daring gaze. "I'm Kyle by the way"

Mr. tight ass Kyle Parrish, the most annoying human being you will ever met, I got nothing to say about him apart from the fact that I hated him when he saved in the gym and hated him harder when he threw that pizza over me and now I hated him even more for being my last chance to film something for screenwriting class.

"So…" I said casually.

"So what?" He arched a brow.

"What kind of activities do you do?" I asked trying to figure out how the get the best of his acting skills. "We need something charged with many emotions if we don't want to mess this up"

"I play soccer"

Soccer, right! The most dramatic sport in the history of humanity –I'm being sarcastic if you hadn't notice-, but what else could I do? I needed something and maybe just maybe it could work.

We stayed for a while in the mirrors room exchanging some ideas about the project, as the main theme was drama there were lots of thing to figure out, I hadn't work with drama as a whole before but of course he did, he was in the acting program after all.

After we agreed to meet there at eleven the next day –ten actually- we left, the next night we were starting to work with some ideas I got, how in the hell was I going to work with soccer? Well maybe I could make some takes of him in the playing field failing some shots and the rest could be inside the mirrors room with him making some exercises. Never mind we needed to do something dramatic it had to be dramatic enough or else we both were fucked.

"Were have you been?" Derek asked when I closed the door at my back.

"Here and there" I replied dryly taking out my scarf and preparing to get into bed.

"Come one Stiles, tell me! Who are you screwing with?"

Oh! I wasn't expecting that! I couldn't help it. I chuckled, yeah right screwing with Mr. cranky pants pizza boy, hell no! I mean of course that Kyle was hot as hell! But he was an asshole and I couldn't stand him.

"You are laughing! You are laughing!" Derek said staring at me as I was crazy.

"Derek shut up! I'm not screwing anybody I'm just busy with something"

"Why you don't wanna tell me?"

Why? Because it was the first time I saw this part of you idiot! And I was rejoicing the idea of you craving for knowing what the hell I was into.

"Why you didn't tell me you aren't a virgin anymore?"

Oh so it was about it.

"What for? For you to run to tell Allison as if my life were a friggin soap opera you both were addicted to?" I shot, yeah I was really pissed.

Derek's expression froze as if were measuring his words before speaking.

"I didn't tell her or something, she just figured it out" He defended himself.

"She just figured it out? And what? You both stalk me or something?" I roared.

"Stiles you never go anywhere! You're always stuck in this room watching TV or some movies you barely see your friends the whores or whatever so how can expect her to think that you have an active sex life?

"You were like that too remember? Before she got in the middle it was always us, watching TV and movies crouched in the couch, so just because your life changed it doesn't mean you have the right to judge me or think whatever crosses your mind about me!" Oh shit I was really mad and jealous, fuck!

"I'm sorry" He excused closing his laptop and putting it over the table to get back into bed "Who was it anyway? Isaac?"

Oh god I couldn't handle it anymore.

"No one for god sake, I just made that up to not look like loser in front of Jim and Allison!" I growled getting into bed and hiding below my quilt.

"Oh sorry!" He said with embarrassment though I swear I could hear a muffled giggle.

There was an awkward silence.

"I was just concerned"

"Go to sleep Derek, it is late and we got classes in the morning" I said closing my eyes exhausted and drifting away almost instantly.

The next morning I spent my class hours thinking about the script for screenwriting, in my mind the film didn't have dialogues so it was going to be pretty complicated to write a script based only in actions to not mention how boring it was going to be, I just hoped the film did worth high grades for us.

I was going out of sound production getting my laptop back in my backpack when someone pushed me aside –probably Brandon and his damn Coder fellas- and I stumbled I held myself from the wall to stand and looked up and there he was, below poor sunrays filtered through an snow covered oak, the guy from the pizzeria, the reason I ran into Kyle in the first place, I couldn't explain it but there was something about him so overwhelming as if he were surrounded by a divine light. He kept walking and I blinked back into the real world I saw him walk away from a prudent distance and when he turned I could see a logo on the back of his jacket. A wolf to be more specific with, its muzzle wide opened showing rows and rows of pointy fangs its claws ragging some words that seemed like soccer? I couldn't tell he was really far already.

At lunch I didn't join Derek and instead went back in the dorm carrying a donut with me, oh no I was going to be fat! Let's say I was eating organic pieces of carrots yeah that was what I was eating! Never mind I sat on my bed and opened the laptop and signed in my Facebook account, I knew the collage had many teams and everything else I just needed to find out something about wolves and soccer so I started to fool with the searching bar hoping to find a profile or fan page for the team.

The door opened at my back but I didn't pay attention I was waiting for the betches anyway.

"What are you doing?" Jim said sitting next to me.

"Looking for Mr. Hottie" I replied without looking at him.

"Hey sweetie" Said Liam.

"Hey guys!" I greeted everybody still focused on the laptop.

"Where is Derek?" Asked Hip and I rather ignored him.

"Wait a second" Jim mumbled thoughtful "Mr. Hottie, you mean…'

"The guy from the other night in the pizzeria? Hell yeah! I just saw him" I said with a grin, clicking in a fan page that just popped up for the wolves of Oakwood University and yeah it was a soccer team.

When the cover picture appeared Jim almost came through the laptop's screen with his index finger pointing at the beaming face of the boy that was right next Kyle's face "It is him" Said devilishly.

"Who?" Freddy asked sitting next to us.

"An eye candy I wanna sleep with" Jim said.

Meanwhile I looked for the team's pictures watching how many likes they had, the comments of random girls about the team and how much they liked watching them play –yeah right- and then it came… a picture of himself tagged that took me straight to his Facebook profile, name Jackson Whittemore, Jack for his friends, oh god! Look at that face! If Channing Tatum and Ryan Gosling had a baby would definitely look like this Jackson Whittemore boy. His profile was… damn! All I could see was his breathtaking display picture and a post someone made on his wall inviting him to some rave party.

"Sweetie! I gotta get back to work" Liam complained.

"Sorry" I said closing the laptop and coming back with them.

"Remember it was your idea" He scolded me.

"I know… I know"

"Okay betches do you have what we asked you to do?" Jim asked.

The guys exchanged looks.

"It was complicated" Tim replied "Mine moved out of the town five years ago"

"Mine deleted his Facebook account so I can't reach him" Liam said ashamed.

"Same here" Said Cass and Hip at unison.

Fuck, that was it?! Our project was done before even beginning?

"Guys we need to try harder! How are we going to do this without the guys who ruined our lives?"

"It is easy to say when you know where is yours" Freddy complained.

"Wait Stily! Maybe it is a good thing!" Jim said with some odd glow in his eyes. "Maybe it doesn't have to be about the same guys, if we use random new boys it will be even more realistic, when people see the documentary project it will have more impact because they will see how serious the issue is, any random guy could be the guys in our video, imagine it"

"Well we still have Isaac and yours right?" I said thoughtful, I wasn't much convinced I wanted to directly take vengeance on Isaac not just mention him somewhere in the documentary and plus Jim was right, it would make more impact if….

"I want Jack!" I hurried to say.

"That's not fair!' Jim protested.

"I found him, if it wasn't for me no one would have him anyway" I laughed at his face.

"Stop acting like high school girls" Liam said pouting his glistening lips, "This is serious, you can't fall in love for the guys we pick or else it will be the same story of always"

"I know" I said apathetically.

"For now on, try to focus on finding guys that fit the profile of Isaac and the rest" Liam ordered.

"What profile?" Tim asked.

"Jocks, with a career or a nice job, who seem to have the perfect life, the one the other men envies and women crave for, understood? I asked.

Everyone nodded.

"What about Gabe?" Jim asked referring to the guy who broke his poor little heart once.

"Let Matty handle him, the rest focus on finding this guys, we will start recoding as soon as we find them, for now I will focus on Jack and see how close he is to fit with the description"

"What's going on here?" Derek's voice asked suddenly.

"Hey Derek" Hip said with a grin and Derek nodded at him.

"Hey!" I said uneasy, fuck! I wasn't expecting him so early "Um… the guys were checking on me, but I told them I had classes and they were living already right guys?"

"No" Hip said cheerful.

I stumped on his feet, his moan was like music to my ears.

"Yeah, yeah we were living"

"Oh… okay bye then" Derek said frowning and they hurried to left the dorm while Jim made me signs he was going to call me later.

Kyle found a covered playing field untouched by the snow that would be perfect for our takes, I didn't want to ask how in the hell he got to bust us in, I was too busy complaining of how far it was from home.

"You got the script?" He asked while we walked by the dark and lonely bleachers and looked at the dark playing field.

"I was thinking that I could make some takes of you walking through this place like a ghost, running and failing some shots in the goal then maybe we could go to the theater, some exercise you looking at yourself in the mirrors making some better shots looking pale and fatigued and then falling unconscious on the floor" I explained hoping he liked the idea because I hadn't much, my mind was still with Jack and his Facebook's profile I wanted to know everything about him and it frustrated me to know that his profile was private.

"That's it?" He said hauntingly.

"It is only five minutes of short film the remaining fifteen will go to Mr. Anderson's archive" I explained tiresome.

"Alright where do you want me?" He asked.

I took a look to the dark artificial grass of the playing field looking for the right angle to start and grabbed the camera, I'm pretty fussy when it is about my films so I spent at least one hour searching for the right spots, he was losing his patience by when I ended up and asked him to do some shots of him doing moves with the ball he got under his armpit.

"Slow… slow" I ordered twenty minutes later we started the first take.

I followed him with the camera while he moved through the grass behind the ball and I got to say it he was doing a really good job but it is only my opinion and I knew nothing about soccer so maybe he sucked at it and I couldn't tell the difference.

"Now fall" I ordered focusing on his feet.

They made a half spin and his body met the ground softly?

"What are you doing?" I said arching a brow.

"What you asked me" He replied insulted.

"You didn't fall you just sat like a girl" I protested angrily.

"Don't tell me how to act, you don't know shit about acting" He growled.

"I maybe don't know anything about acting but suck at falling" I grunted "Do it again and this time hit the ground hard as if you slipped"

I came back behind the camera and started recording again.

He did the pirouettes again and fell like a girl, fuck!

It was a long night, it didn't matter how much I showed him what I wanted he kept doing it wrong, it was frustrating I wanted to pull off my hair and kick the camera away.

"So…" I started when we took a break and sat on the floor to chill out a little "You are in the soccer team" I wandered.

"So what?" He asked confused taking a bite of the sandwich in his hand.

"Do you know Jackson Whittemore?" I asked casually pretending being focused on the cleaning of my camera.

He frowned and then nodded "The captain?" He frowned. "What? Do you like him or something?"

I rolled my eyes "Why you always have to be such an asshole? I just though he fitted with a character I have in mind" I lied.

He stared at me suspiciously "He is in engineering" Snorted "He doesn't know anything about acting"

"Neither do you and I'm still working with you" I chuckled. Huge mistake.

"What did you say?" He shouted jerking up and grabbing me by the collar of my shirt.

I held my breath and looked up where his stark face stared at me with utter despise, I hated him I hated every part of our hours together it was like being stuck in the gas room, just that you had to come back every day to exchange insults and feel like shit at the end of it, why he had to make fun of me all the time and get away with it? Why couldn't I too? Yeah he was a soccer player and I was just a scrawny bastard but I didn't care, I didn't care I just couldn't stand his arrogance and lack of talent, he though he owned the world when actually he was nobody.

"You heard me" I said cracking in laughs.

Before I could react he stood and hit me in the face, I gasped and fall back holding my nose.

"What the fuck?" I roared.

"Say it again!" He dared me.

What was wrong with him? It was just a joke. My cheeks burned and the anger flared, I could feel the blood boiling in my veins I hated him I truly hated him.

I jumped over him hitting him in the stomach, geez! It was stark as rock, yet he panted and I punched him in the face over and over as he fell on his butt and I throw myself on top of him, Jesus! I didn't know I could get this pissed!

I threw another blow and one of his hands grabbed me by the wrist, then the other.

With hitched breath I looked at him and he stared at me shocked and a little amused…

I came back to reality and let go of his grasp hurrying to grab the camera and give my back to him.

"I'm sorry" He said at my back while I focused on whipping the lens again.

I breathed out and pretended I wasn't listening.

"You hit like a girl by the way" Giggled.

I remained back to him for half second where thousands of painful punishments for him crossed my mind. Oh I wanted to do so many things to him that I could write a book about it, but at the end I just and grabbed my stuffs and left without saying another word.

The next day he called me to apologize, at first I thought fuck him! I preferred to fail screenwriting than stand that jackass another minute, but after the third I'm sorry call and almost begging me I decided to give him one last chance, I didn't know why I agreed I mean it wasn't such a big deal I could afford to fail that project…but did he too?

At the next day we worked for hours in silence, he didn't dare to say anything and I was too mad to try to even give him an advice we only exchanged the necessary words to be done with it. Hours became days and on our second weeks' Wednesday we were already working acting itself and guess what? It was even harder than watch him failing his attempts of doing tricks with the ball, so instead of our usual training spot in the mirror's room and the soccer field I proposed him to try somewhere else, maybe a new location could change his perspective of the story and make him feel his character the way I wanted him to.

That night we came into the showers of my dorm, it was pretty late night so there wasn't a soul in sight which was good because the least I needed was the noise of my neighbors bothering, I was really desperate, Kyle sucked at acting I wanted to scream it at him but I was concerned he might kick my ass.

The showers were pretty much like others at dorms I mean the mirrors for the selfie pictures, the lockers where shove the nerds and… yeah you guessed right the showers! We got to the back of the room and I moved the lamps I was carrying for the illumination and placed them some feet away from the head of the center's shower, I lit it up and slowly turned the gear to get a sublime light that would help to enhance drama of the scene.

"Okay you will reach the handle and arch your legs facing the wall, I want to show your frustration to show that all the stress of not being good enough show me that its getting into you, later slowly rotate the key and feel the water over you, you are failing you are not good enough you're going to be kick out of the team I want to see you suffer, wanna see your soul falling into pieces remember this is your dream that you're shattering with the lack of talent"

Wow that was pretty inspiring! If that didn't do the trick on him I didn't know what would.

He nodded and closed his eyes.

"Ready?" I asked going behind the camera.

"Ready" He muttered.

I started recording as he came walking into the showers, taking off his top tank shirt and throwing it away staying only on his tight short pants, I was probably going to need a new angle for that part.

Ok that went well, then I was going to focus on his feet now so I moved behind him and started recording again wanted a perfect take of his feet the exact moment he arched his legs in anticipation. I came to the back of the room and used a cold and dim light to make it look like it was only his feet in the whole space, pacing over the tiles, maybe I didn't have a professional illumination kit but it was definitely going pretty well.

He stood still before the wall from which the shower head hanged I made a close up to his feet and got amazed, most of his nails were broken with dry blood on then there were callouses everywhere and some spots where blistered, it was disturbing and fascinating to look at the Same time, why his feet were so wounded? I cut the take and moved next to him.

"Alright, do it" I ordered.

The water started streaming down, I slowly came up with the camera sweeping his chest focusing on every detail, and how the drops slid from his armpits and fell over his nipples and… Oh no boner! Fuck boner! I couldn't believe it I was like a horny teenager, I was a creep a freak! Never mind it was too dark for him to notice the dirty old man I was being right then. I came to his neck, as I said I did an excellent job with the light the glinting of the water in his neckline coming down from his masculine jawline made a perfect…. What? What the hell?

I put the camera down, what was wrong with his face?

"Dude what the fuck?" I roared feeling how my insides scorched raw.

"What? I did what you said!" He replied angrily.

"No you didn't, just take a look to your face"

"What's wrong with my face?"

"Seriously? That grimace? I asked you to suffer! To be in pain, your dreams are shattering for Christ sake! You're not bathing you are dying!"

"What the hell you want? I'm doing my best, the problems is yours that you don't know what you want and just blame me!" He replied sharply.

"Me?" I snorted "You have as much talent as a toilet"

"Yeah? Let me see the take! Let me see!" He roared.

Feeling my ears burning I turned and got the camera, as usual I forgot to cut before yelling at him, geez it was freezing I could see him shivering with the corner of my eyes, I shoved him a towel and got the camera for him, I rewind the scene and showed it to him and he gaped yeah he gaped and I had to do a lot of effort to not laugh and hurt his feelings.

"Shit!" He roared. "It isn't as easy as you think"

"To look as constipated as you did in the thousands of takes we have done already? I'm sure you need years and years of acting to master such face" I snorted.

"Don't laugh of me! I'm not good doing drama alright? I'm not used to it"

"And now you tell me? I could have changed the idea, we can't start all over again!" I growled hitting the wall.

He paced back and ford "It isn't easy, you gotta feel lots of things and… I don't feel comfortable it's not what I'm used to… I… I"

"You just have to try harder!"

"It's not that. I can't feel it inside me I'm not used to it"

_Yeah I bet you know shit about drama Mr. Perfect life._

"If you don't get out of your comfort zone you'll never know how big it is" I said taking a deep breath.

"You are right" He said calming down a little, "Let's try again, I can do it" Assured whipping his face with the towel.

We got to our positions and went straight to the water flow over his body, I got some other takes of the glistening stream against his pale chest, then slowly came upward and… shit! This boy was dump! Really dump! And I was screwed. There he was enjoining his bath, his face meeting the warm water with a pleasant expression, Jesus! I was going to fail because of this jackass, the more time I spent with him the less I wanted him around, if I just could erase that mock of his… An Idea flashed my mind, with the camera still focused on his face I quickly moved my eyes to the left handle of the shower and before I could think twice I spun it.

I went back behind the camera in the exact moment he let out a hurtful pant and bent his head.

"What…what" He tried to say between gasps, his hands flying desperately to the handle.

I cut the take.

"What the fuck!" He said shivering.

"It was perfect!" I replied excited "It was perfect! We gotta do it again, just one take and it will be over I promise"

He looked at me for a second as if I were crazy, maybe I was crazy I mean the water was so could that would have frozen the hell itself, but it was worth it.

"You wanna kill me" He said with his eyes out of their orbits.

Something woke up inside me, I could feel it.

"Let's do this" I said with devilish grin in my face.

Don't look at me like a sadist, I did it for him, to help him! Okay I'm won't lie I was enjoying it, finally I got the chance to watch him suffering and guess what? I liked it, actually I thought I might become addict to it.

I prepared the camera and he spun the cold water key.

His body tensed so hard I thought it might fall into stiff ice pieces over the tiles, the grimace quickly turned into a painful expression as he started gasping, his chest rising and falling heavily, craving for air, his fists were pressed against the wall as his forehead while the rush of cold water streamed down his back and he started whimpering in pain shaking as if he was stuck inside a situation he couldn't handle anymore.

I finished and turned the hot water key to save him from freezing to death, bit a bit the air became warm and his breathing stabilized, his lips were blue when I threw the towel at him, he quickly grabbed it and fastened it against his body as if it was the most precious gift on earth, he started to take off his damp short pants and I couldn't help getting a glimpse of the bulge between his legs through his gray boxers…yeah gray boxers! I could almost get a full frontal! Why not blue boxers? Why not black ones? Jesus! I fought back the bad thoughts and focused on the camera.

"How…how…was…it?" Asked between gasps.

I hurried to get him some warm clothes and offered him my coat, hell I almost killed him! Well not exactly killed him but could have made him get hypothermia. He started dressing up while I rewind the scene again and approached him.

He bent his face over my shoulder and some drops fell on my shirt and I shivered, fuck! It was cold as a frigging iceberg! I hit the play button and we both stared astonished as his body while it quickly came out of control bursting in a wave of pain and suffering, the trembling in his jaw. The tension in his forehead, his eyes closed blinded by the desolation, it was startling… and perfect!

I would like to lie to you and say that after that, things went easier but as I said I would be lying to you. Kyle wasn't the smartest human person in the world and even though he was really impressed with the shot we got in the dorms' showers he kept doing his constipated face the following weeks, I had to made up something everything I really wanted a believable reaction from him, like the Tuesday two weeks before the presentation day I wanted his character to taste an small victory by doing a long shot of the ball in a midair pirouette that made him look so cool and it went fine actually all the angles I recorded of him kicking the ball were awesome, the problem started when I wanted him to sit on the grass and crack in half laughs-snivels and wanted to show his vulnerability and how all the stress was getting into him wanted him to show a conflict of emotions for doing something right and knowing how far he was of being good enough.

Constipated face! Really! You know what? I should have taken a picture and make a meme of him, really it was frustrating! It was me who wanted to crumble in the grass and cry like a baby for have the worse luck in the world for working with that jackass.

I yelled at him, really I yelled at him for what looked like forty minutes and I didn't care at all if he was going to kick my ass I was sick of him and his imaginary acting skills yeah maybe I was a little meticulous and asked too much but hey! He didn't push himself enough! I was doing all the work the only thing he did was stand in front of the camera with his constipated face.

The next day I got an idea and asked him to meet again in the playing field and came up with this idea of using tiny touches of itchy powder on his eye bags, yeah it was a small vengeance from me and I enjoined watching him suffer but hey it worked! Laughing came out of him as a natural thing and I didn't have to try my poor make up skills on his eyes because the itchy powder swollen them for real and the tears started streaming on their own as he half giggled and sobbed at the Same time and I died in satisfaction while I recorded, yeah Tarantino I'm more sadistic than you!

Kyle and all screenwriting project swallowed me whole it was draining my life I wanted it to be perfect not just to humiliate the coder's and whatever they recorded but to show Kyle a lesson too. Don't mess with me! I wanted to keep my research on Jackson Whittemore and discover more about himself and his perfect breathtaking smile but I had no time, after shooting sessions with Kyle I got home pretty late and all I wanted was to have some rest to wake up early the next morning for class, but Derek in the other hand was becoming a pain in the ass he asked me every day what I was up to but I never say anything I wanted my project to be a secret I wanted to do something amazing and in part because I was afraid of being doing everything wrong I mean I was a week away from the evaluation day and I wasn't sure if I really had something worthy of displaying in the theater it was too much pressure and Kyle was too bad acting god I going to fail!

"It's not working!" I said angrily putting the camera down and running to Kyle. We were two days away and the film wasn't finished.

"I'm doing what you're asking me to" Kyle reply furious. Yeah that was always his answer.

"Push it, feel it you are exhausted" I grunted spraying more water on his body to make him look more sweaty.

I came back behind the camera and focused on his face. We were in the mirrors room all the lights were down, we were only using my improvised illumination system at its lowest power.

"Remember shadows are lurking…. Those guys in the mirror are your worst fears!"

It was a good thing that most part of the take was pretty dark, it made easier for me to not look at his ridiculous mocks of fear, all I had to do was to focus on his graceful turns as he stares at each mirror in the room, later we were going to make some other takes of his face emotionless while is reflections walked toward him from all directions.

"That's it" I said disappointed at the end, we weren't going to do it better than that and I was really tired, now while he peacefully rested on his bed I had to spent the whole night post-editing everything, I had part of the job already done but it didn't convinced me at all.

"Are you sure?" He said frowning.

"Yeah I just wanna go home" I said listlessly.

"When can I see it?"

"I don't know okay? I still got a lot to do! Probably in two days in the presentation" I mumbled moody.

"What? What if you do some shit I don't like? Or use a bad angle? I can't let you show it without my approval"

"Fuck you!" I growled "I've been doing all the work all this time you won't tell me how to do my job when you don't even know how to shed a tear naturally! Asshole!"

After saying that I just grabbed my stuffs and came back to my dorm.

Thank god Derek and Allison were already asleep when I got in, I wasn't in the mood for their witty asses all that I wanted was to be done with that screenwriting shit to not look at Kyle's face ever again!

I let my backpack over my bed and turned on my laptop while started undressing, Allison tossed next to Derek and I looked at them, they seemed so calm and peaceful god I really envied them! I grabbed a turkey sandwich Derek left for me over my desk as every night since I started working with Kyle and sat on my bed fighting off my drowsiness to end up editing the video.

While the post-cut software loaded I opened my Facebook account to check up what had been happening all those weeks I were absent from the rest of the world. The betches went to the club last week, good for them, what else? I had an inbox? Why my phone didn't alert me? It was an old text from Jim.

_"__Lost my phone we're going out tonight meet you in the club"_

I needed to change my phone soon. I clicked in the window below and post-cut was still loading, fuck that! It was pretty slow! Never mind I came back to my profile to see what else was next. Umm my mom went to visit Aunt Mary oh no! Old ladies' selfies. And a friendship request from Kyle hell no!

I was about to close my session when I thought about Jackson and looked for his profile, it felt like ages since the last time I looked at it, he changed his profile picture for one of him in the playing field and it was still blocked all I could see is an invitation someone sent him to a rave party that was taking place next week in an abandoned storehouse. I clicked the link of the invitation and realized that I got an invitation too, Missy invited me months ago I hadn't notice it, many people had already accepted the invitation and the bracelets weren't expensive.

I shook my head and went back to my work. I spent hours checking the shoots and damning all those takes where I forgot to turn off the camera I recorded myself fighting with Kyle, god! We really hated each other! Actually I had to clamp my mouth a couple of times because it was funny to watch. In the other hand the video was pathetic I man I was going to fail! I didn't matter how much I tried to make Kyle look professional there were still too much things wrong with his acting, and even though we got few pretty good takes there were still thousands really bad!

I went back to watch that night's session the moment I put the camera down and showed up in front of the take to yell at him, his face and mine… the way the light and the shadows outlined us… the mirrors… I… I… I grabbed all the files I had saved from the last weeks editing and deleted them all!

The sun rose and fell, Derek talked to me shouted at me actually. That morning and the afternoon, but I couldn't pay attention to him, Mr. Stily Stilinski academy award's director took over me and even though my pupils burned and my eyes closed by exhaustion I didn't stop or went to class, or ate, or went to the bathroom, or anything else I just stayed there in my bed feeling how my back killed me and my carpal tunnel cried like a girl, I stood there for what felt like weeks I literally saw for a second the four seasons passing by the window with the corner of my eye and pictured myself with a long white beard but I kept doing my work.

I finished by nine o'clock, it was a long day of cutting and erasing and starting all over many times but at the end I was pretty satisfied with my work, thank god for Derek who brought take over for me that night even though I pretended he didn't exist the whole day, it was finished. It was finished and I was happy with the result.

I won't bother you telling how boring the rest of the films were, well actually I spent the whole evaluation snoring, all I remember is Mr. Anderson thanking all the bootlickers that called him to ask for his mother's health while he was away. Then I recall I gave him the disc with my film and the printed version of my script and went back to the top seat row to sit with Missy and Derek and have some sleep.

I didn't watch my movie, I was too tired to open my eyes but I'll do my best to describe it to you. It was a total joke! I mean I know at first the idea was to make a story about Kyle's struggling with his life as a soccer player and how it was destroying in him from inside out but after all those hours watching the takes, and analyzing them I came up with this great idea! A story about how much Kyle sucked at drama! And even thought it sounds like a funny story it was pretty dramatic actually, I reordered all those recorded sessions focusing on the strong scenes of him trying over and over the takes and how I came up to millions of times to yell at him for doing a terrible job, our fights, all that arguing the conflict between us, the agony of having to work together when we couldn't stand each other made as organic and vivid as I wanted it to be, but what made it specially spicy, but what gave it the last touch was the cold filter I applied and the Native's culture song I added, the work with the sound levels mixed with our screens and some sound effects for the times we hit each other… well you can imagine what I mean.

I remember the applauses and the proudness on my chest, I remember the soreness of my eyes and the pats on my back and something that said the acting's professor about why I wasn't in his class but I didn't pay attention I was too tired to mind about it, the only thing I remember vividly is the face of Brandon and the rest of the Coder's that was my real prize and grade on screenwriting it was what made worth all my hard work those days.

That night we celebrated our high grades on the screenwriting class with a delicious dinner made by Derek –God bless his hands- Finally we could calm down there wasn't much to do those days apart from an assignment for sound production but I wasn't very preoccupied for it I could use some of the mixes I did for screenwriting so now I could rejoice on all the spare time I got left and the best part was that I hadn't to see Kyle's haughty face ever again… well that's what I thought.

The next morning I went out before my classes started to take some shots of the melting snow around the pond, spring was almost here and though I was already craving for some warm air I felt a little sad for leaving winter behind, it was my favorite season after all, so I grabbed my camera and went to the small park in the middle of the campus, the sun was just rising and there wasn't much souls around, yeah college students are as lazy Paris Hilton's right eye. I searched for the right angle to get a full view of the landscape and the pond, aimed a little higher to include the golden halo of the rising sun in the horizon. Stepped back a bit, wanted to get as much of the grayish sky as possible. Pressed the shutter button and…. What the fuck?

"Hey! You ruined my picture you asshole!" I roared.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to" Kyle replied with an annoying grin as he swaggered toward me.

I rolled my eyes "What do you want?"

"Um… nothing I was going to Mr. West's office to deliver this" Said pointing at the pizza on his arms.

"Who has pizza for breakfast?" I said disgusted feeling my guts churning.

"You would be impressed" He says and then smirks.

Seriously! What the hell was wrong with him? Was he high?

Anyway I started moving some steps away to start all over and guess who came after me? Yeah there it was, his irritating breathing on the back of my neck making the hairs in there to stand still while I fought back a shiver.

"What?" I said angrily craning my neck toward him and quickly stepping back to avoid meeting his awful shining hazel eyes that were too close, way too close to mine!

"Nothing I just wanted to see the picture"

"The one you ruined? I deleted it" I said pressing my lips in a thin line.

"No, the one you were taking what are you so moody today anyway?"

_Because you just showed up!_

"Why are being so stubborn? Don't you have a pizza to deliver?"

"Yeah right!" He said faking surprise. "But… Umm I wanted to talk to you about something" He started.

I arched a brow suspiciously.

"Thank you actually what do you did for project… it was awesome"

"I know" I replied dryly turning on my back to him.

"Listen I just wanted to know if you have some spare time to…"

"To what?" I demanded losing my patience.

"Um… help me with my acting" He said all casually and I didn't need to turn to look at him to know he was using his moron face, you know that face that those jackass do when they want to ask you something?

"Don't you have friends in the acting program?" I asked focusing on taking my picture… and there it was, his exasperating breathing on my nape.

"One actually, but he isn't as good as you" He admitted with embarrassment.

I had to make a big effort to not crack in laughs.

"What you did with me, pushing me was awesome, I know I still have a lot learn but you get what you want you look for it and I know I can master Drama and everything else with your help, imagine what we could do if we work together"

"No" I said taking a shot, fuck! Wrong ISO!

"But… think about…"

"No" I repeated.

"Come one you know that you need me for whatever crazy thing is coming through your mind now"

"No"

"Jesus! Stily what you have be so grumpy?"

Grumpy? Stily? Oh great now he was using nicknames.

"Why are you doing all this? You hate me remember? And guess what? I can't stand you either, actually I think that no one in the whole campus would except for your class mate that I suppose must be deaf and blind to be willing to breath the Same air as you!"

"I don't hate you" He replied offended. "Actually I like you"

"Yeah you like me now because I got talent… but if I…"

"I mean it" He assured "Look I think you misunderstood everything, just forget that I said anything okay? Just let's hang out as friends chill out mess around sometimes" Suggested.

What?

"Like… I don't… next Friday! There is an insane rave in downtown… actually" He said and shoved his hands on his pockets tugging a flier with the same picture of the event Jackson Whittemore was invited.

"Are you and your soccer friends going Uh?" I said pretending mocking of him though actually I wanted to hear him say that Jackson was going.

"Yeah it is a big thing actually, we got a game that Saturday and its funny cuz the captain hates parties and the last time most of the guys were drunk at the game and one of them got arrested at the party, it was crazy, and now we agreed to hangout all together and cover our backs"

_Jack is going them uh?_

"So what do you say? And I mean it, forget the whole help me thing I just want to hang out with you a little I know I treated you pretty bad early and umm… you really helped me with the project I just made things more hard for you"

"I don't know" I said frowning. "Don't you have to deliver that pizza by the way?"

He suddenly came back to reality and jumped on his feet starting at the pizza and shaking as it was on fire, it was pretty funny "Shit!" Said staring at the watch on his wrist "I gotta go!" announced starting to dart again.

"Think about it!" Said at my back as he ran.

_Whatever_ I thought though the idea of accidentally bumping with Jackson Whittemore in the party made my guts squirm, and it was then when I got my first idea for our plan.

"Accident!" I announced that Thursday on my meeting with the Betches in the club.

"What?" Asked Freddy straining his ear to listen to me over the roar of the music.

"Accident!" I repeated right when Jim and Cass showed up with our drinks.

"Everything starts with an accident!"

"Be more specific sweetie" Liam replied pouting his gleaming lips.

"I think I know what he means" Tim said with a look in his eyes, the Same look I probably got that moment "We knew them all without looking for it right?"

There is a second were everything we can hear is the music, the shadows and lights bounced on the puzzled faces of the betches, there were remembering, they were feeling all over their stories, well everyone but Freddy who kept dancing all slutty next to me with a pretty cute guy.

"I…" Liam started arching a brow.

"He is right, it happened out of the blue" Cass confirms.

I was in a boring season of my life, wishing for something awesome and amazing to happen that was the reason I dragged Derek to the party I met Isaac in the first place, but I wasn't expecting nothing like that to happen and it is the magical thing about all it.

"So what now?" Tim asked a little lost.

"Now we are going to make an accident to happen!" I replied with a devilish smile.

"An accident?" Jim wondered smiling at me, oh we understood each other at other level. "Ecstasy?" Suggested.

"What else?" I replied grinning.

"What?" Freddy protested pushing his dance partner away to not let him hear what we were plotting, "Are you bitches insane? What are you planning go to one of Stily's class and drug his class mates or something?"

"Actually there is a rave next week and…" I started.

"No Stily you are insane! This is going too far!" Freddy said still shocked.

"Relax Beyoncé no one is going to get hurt" Jim replied with boredom "We are just going to create a situation where this poor guys need of a friend to drive them home, that's all"

"That's all?" Freddy grunted.

"Come on Freddy we're not raping them or something" I tried to mediate with him but he didn't want to listen.

"If you're really doing this I'm out!"

I looked at the rest of the guys, it was hard to tell what they were thinking with all loud music and the spinning lights making sick.

"What I've missed?" Hip said approaching after being hooking up with a random guy in the next table.

"We're going to drug some jocks wanna join us?" Jim said arching a suggestive brow.

"Drug them? What for?" Hip asked confused.

"To them in our beds" Jim replied sarcastically.

"To have sex? I don't need that!" Hip snorted.

"Wait a second…" Tim intervened thoughtful, "Shouldn't hip be flirting with Gabe by now?"

"Yeah cockgina I wanna see if you can get in the pants of Gabriel" Jim agreed.

"I need to meet him first" Hip replied haughtily.

"Can you make him go to the rave?" I asked looking at Jim.

He stared at me scratching his chin for a second "I think we still have some friends in common"

"Freddy?" I asked.

Restless feet glared at me for a second "No drugs, I mean it!"

"Alright, alright no drugs!" Jim said with serious look and then turned to me and winked, it was definitely going to be a pretty interesting night, I felt thrilled with just the thought of going there on cover for a mission in my top secret project and the idea of meeting Jackson Whittemore there made my heart shudder.

You know what? I have to stop telling you my plans because every time I'm thrilled about something and tell you about it guess what? Nothing comes out as planned, in other words my night was a total mess, but I'm going too fast.

It was Friday afternoon and we were just hours away from the big rave and there we were stuck in the mall getting new clothes, Jesus! Getting the Betches to the mall was like leaving a fifteen year old girl alone with a credit card.

"Move your asses!" I protested outside the fitting rooms.

"Hang on a second!" Liam's voice said from inside the fitting rooms.

One of the plastic doors suddenly slammed opened and Jim came out wearing a pair of camouflage pants and a vest over his bare chest.

"Are you kidding me?" I rolled my eyes.

"You have to admit that somehow he got some style" Cass added next to me.

"Oh shut up Cass" I grunted. "This is serious we're going to lose our chance if we don't get there looking like real straight guys!"

"How do you do to look straight?" Jim asked making Tim aside to sit next to me.

"By not dressing like you own your own suits brand perhaps?" I suggested glaring at him.

"You're saying that I look faggy just because I can afford fashion clothes?" Jim snorted. "You're such a racist bitch Stily!"

"Thank you too" I replied dryly "MOVE YOUR ASSES!" I roared and the remaining fitting rooms cleared at once.

Well, at least they got the idea Liam and Freddy came out of them wearing nice clothes, nothing to bright or colorful and we would need to do something about Liam's gleaming lips but despite that they looked pretty straight though of course they needed to start acting pretty straight specially Freddy who had to somehow learn to walk without dancing. They were the last, Cass, Tim and Hip didn't have that problem because they slept, worked and probably bathed wearing their gym's gear so they looked pretty straight already.

"How is that your homo ass isn't trying some new clothes for the party?" Liam said moody taking a closer look of himself in the mirror.

"Because I don't wear anything weird like you guys" I snorted and I was serious I mean what the hell Liam? How he always found out something with animal print on it wear every day? It had to be a talent because the funny thing is that he looked good on it.

Wait a second… there was an upsetting silence… "What?" I said shocked.

"Oh come on Stily!" Cass said looking at me with a grin.

"What?"

"You're the worst dressed of all of us" Liam assured.

Freddy and Tim nodded.

"Stily you dress pretty boring" Liam affirmed.

"I was going to say pathetic but now that you say so you're right" Hip intervened.

"What are you betches talking about? I dress pretty cool and normal"

"You wear geek clothes" Jim cracked in laughs "There isn't anything normal about it, you look like everybody's nerd friend"

"And don't make me talk about your hoodies" Liam added. "It's not mentally safe to have so many…"

"And his pants… come on dude! You can wear something more taut don't be afraid of showing some booty" Freddy giggled.

Oh god! I couldn't believe they thought I dressed boring I always thought that my style was kinda cool you know nothing too pushed just a reflection of who I was…. Guess what? I was boring!

"Alright I'll try something new" I gave up gritting my teeth.

At six pm I took a bath to be ready when Jim showed up to pick me in his Volvo the rave wasn't starting till eleven but I wanted to meet with the guys a little earlier to discuss our plan.

I came in in my room taking off my towel, that night I got the room for myself Derek was having dinner with Allison's fathers or something suicidal like that and I could have time to dress up prepare some sandwiches for dinner and watch a TV while I waited for Jim, I tried on some of the clothes I bought that afternoon and kept swapping the tops and the bottoms to try new outfits.

At eight I had already eaten and finally had got a nice combination that made me feel comfortable though I wasn't too sure about the tight pants, I mean weren't too straight or gay they were just not Stiles at all and then was the T-shirt Cass picked up for me of a half-naked girl's silhouette over a bike I mean I liked and all but my arms felt naked, they craved for one of my hoodies but I couldn't take any of them to the rave with me the betches would freak out, so I started rummaging through my closet trying to find something and as I passed over the hooks with my shirts and hoodies I found it… it was exactly what I needed, I took the leather jacket that my mom got me for Christmas and wrapped myself in.

"Ready betch?" Jim said coming in "Oh! Look at you it seems like you're ready to get some pussy" Chuckled spanking me with his palm.

"I think this is it" I said excited taking a look at myself in the mirror, and I got to say it I looked… different, yeah! That's all I'm going to say about hi I looked!

"Oh dude your hair!" Jim said taking a look at me.

"What?" I said frowning.

"You can wear your hair like a loser, you need something cooler like a spike look" Suggested that big mouthed bitch.

"Ok give me a hand with it" I agreed approaching Derek's bed to take the hairspray.

When Jim was applying the suffocating hair product over me I heard the door opening and by instinct I craned my neck what turned out on me getting my face sprayed.

"Jim fuck!" I said scrubbing my eyes.

"What are you doing?" Derek said at the door.

"Derek?" I said still blind, "What are you doing here?"

"I live here remember?" He chuckled.

Ha-ha funny.

"Are you guys going out somewhere?" Allison's voice said next to Derek's and I finished whipping my eyes that I quickly used in a glare on Jim.

"We're going to a kick-ass rave downtown" Jim explained finishing getting my hair up.

"It was tonight?" Derek said thoughtful.

"What you were planning on going?" I said putting my cellphone on my pockets.

"I want to, I thought that…"

"No!" Allison said glaring at him. "Derek my mom is waiting for us I can't just tell her we're not going especially after we're two hours late because you couldn't decide what to get her for her birthday!"

"Sorry dude" Jim sneered.

"We can't let Stiles alone you know how easy he gets in trouble" He said at his girl while pointed at me with his index finger.

_Excuse me?_I thought feeling my insides scorching what the fuck? Was I supposed to be a pet you can't let alone at home or something?

"He's not going alone he's going with Jimmy right Jimmy?" Allison said looking now at us.

"It's James sad clown face" Jim reproached.

"See momma bear? He's not going alone! Now get your ass in the car!" She ordered with a crested brow "You look good by the way" Added taking a look at me.

Jim and I hurried to get out of the room before Sergeant Allison forbid us to go to the rave too and got our asses in the car while we laughed over poor Derek, I was a little mad because he couldn't come but it was a good thing, we were going on a mission after all and I didn't want Derek finding out about my plans.

After leaving the campus we started to warm up with some tequila shots on a bar near college and at eleven we drove straight to the abandoned storehouse where the rave was. We met the betches outside the compound, we were in a large space surrounded by others storehouses and some ratty buildings. The air was chilly so I was happy I brought the leather jacket with me.

"Careful" I said as I pinned the cameras to the betches' clothes, they were tiny rounded junks I bought on eBay, actually they were from kids toys but hey! They would be useful.

"Do you remember how Gabe looks like right?" Jim asked.

Hip nodded.

"What about Isaac?" I asked.

"Is he in here?" Freddy arched a brow.

I didn't know and actually I hoped not, I didn't feel ready to face him or any of his friends.

"I'll take care of him in case he shows up" Jim offered.

"Remember guys, when we get there we will be strangers. Focus, find an objective pretend to be straight try to lure them in a conversation, talk about music, gyms or sports teams, stick to them but to so much to make them think you're gay find out as much as you can about them!" I explained.

I heard Hip snorting next to Tim but I ignored him.

"This is only recognition nothing else, after we find out who they are we go to the next step and find them at the street or their favorite places by accident, don't push anything! Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

"Great" I smirked.

"Alright bitches, let's confuse some straight asses!" Jim snickered and put the ecstasy pill on my jacket's pocket I grabbed it and threw it away, Freddy was right it was too risky and mean to do such thing even for a good cause as ours.

After me and my teenager face managed to pass the bouncers the rusty double door opened and we were blasted by the loud music and the most awesome lights show I've ever seen. The place was so crowed it was impossible to get a glimpse of the end of the building were the Dj were doing their job. I would like to think that right after we came in everyone was going to turn to look at us swaggering in through fog like the stars of the show but the truth is that no one paid attention to us, which was good because it meant that we fitted in that world.

Right after we split I got my first challenge, stay calm and keep it cool and…yeah, Dance! I told you I hated dance though I must say that the Dj was doing a really good job with the music but I didn't know how to dance but I had to do something or else people would start staring I couldn't be the center of attraction when I wanted to pass undercover. Getting a girl to dance wasn't that hard there were tons of it and a funny looking fat girl approached me after I did my first recognition hike looking for Channing Whittemore or should I call him Jackson Gosling? Whatever you know what I mean. Anyway fatty ass grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me to her, thank god Freddy was near me so I could clumsily copy his slutty dance moves and don't embarrass myself, my strategy seemed to work because half an hour later I was in the middle of a dance sandwich between fatty ass and a hot girl that joined us. If Derek could only see me he would have jaw dropped.

At two am or so I was pretty tired and sweaty and needed some hydration so I break through the girls to find fresh water or something else, I had to do a big effort to pass between the dancing couples, it was a thick thong after all, I was passing by Cass who was already talking to a guy about what looked like gym by the way he moved his arms when I looked him. Jackson Whittemore ten feet away with his arm crossed arguing with a dude, they time stopped and I gapped looking at the way the UV lights made his face look tanned and his eyes brighter.

I bumped with someone.

"Sorry" I said holding the guy before he fell. It was becoming a habit to run into someone while I stared at Jackson from far like a total stalker.

"Hey!" Said the person I stumbled with.

Oh crap!

"Hi" I said indifferent.

"You came!" Kyle said over the roar of the music.

This is when I realized that I were before a table with drinks of all kinds, and Kyle was already holding two bottles of water so I snatched one of his hands.

"Good to see you!" Shouted. "You look weird by the way"

I rolled my eyes.

"I mean it in a good way!"

"Whatever I was leaving anyway" I replied and turned on my heels by the bastard and his broad arms grabbed me by the shoulder and started pushing me to my left making me stumbling with some couples.

"What are you doing?" I protested.

"I'm serious I don't want any troubles, find the others we're leaving in half hour" A deep and masculine voice said next to me making me shiver.

I looked at my left… oh god it was him! It was fucking him!

"Relax dude, get a drink" Another voice said and I looked to my right were a chestnut haired guy offered a red cup to Jackson.

"I don't drink, none of us drink! Come on! We got a game tomorrow no one cares about it?" Jackson said furrowing his brow.

"It is just coke dude take it easy" The guy said putting the cup on Jackson's hand.

Jackson grabbed the cup with a suspicious look and took a sip.

"Hey-Yo Jack!" Kyle said cheerful. "This is my friend Stily"

_Friend? Stily?_ I thought rolling my eyes.

Jackson offered his hand…. I hesitated, oh fuck! _What should I do?_Can someone feel your heartbeat while you shake hands? Oh no he was staring, he was staring I had to do something quickly or he was going to think that I was a creep.

I shook his hand and took mine back rapidly and sighed inside relieved.

"He's the one I told you about" Kyle adds and I arch a brow "The one interested in you!"

Oh shit! Oh… mother fucking… What the hell he just said?"

"The movies' director?"

"I…I… I just said that I'm working on a script about a soccer's captain player who becomes insane and murders all his team" I hurried to say embarrassed "Starting by the guy who never shuts up!" I added glaring at Kyle.

"You said that?" Kyle frowned.

"Yeah I said it the problem is that you never listen to what I said remember?" I replied sharply.

Jackson chuckled and somewhere ten thousands angels fell from heaven blinded by his shockingly beautiful smile, "You're funny" Said.

I died.

"I saw the video you worked with Kyle it was really good!"

Oh god! Someone please shut him up! Or I was going to have an orgasm or puke over him or say something stupid or all at once.

He took a sip of his drink "You did a really good job, I hope Kyle thanked you properly I know how many issues Kyle has been having lately with his classes"

Really? Kyle? Mr. Best performance?

Okay this is stupid I know, I talked to Jackson… well Jack actually -he asked me to call him Jack- about what all the process of making Kyle suck less in acting by like twenty minutes or so, I was really embarrassed because it was kind of odd to talk that much about myself and the weirdest part is that he looked really interested in what I got to say, so I was explaining the sound production when I saw Jim winking at me three or four couples away and I to do my best to not burst in laughs and embarrass myself in front of Jack.

He actually was really funny he laughed a lot about all the evil things I did to Kyle while we were shooting the video and I couldn't stop staring at his sweating body though he hadn't dance in the whole night, when I was explaining to him that I hadn't actually saw the video in the theater because I fell asleep on my chair I felt my mouth awfully dry as arid as parchment, my throat was already scrappy so I looked for Kyle with my eyes but the bastard was gone so I had to apologize with Jack –Yeah, I know I'm I was an idiot- and left to get drink, but hey! I asked him if he wanted another coke since he already drank his and he nodded and actually thanked me for being so nice and oh god! I died AGAIN! He was so charming and cool and hot! Shit I had to focus I wasn't there to flirt I was in a mission.

In my way to the drinks table I understood what was going on with me, Jim and his fucking tequila shots! I pushed some couples aside to get to the drinks table that was surprisingly empty apparently there was a fight or something some feet away because most of the people were crowded there making a circle, and I approached the cool box and shoved my hand inside, it was empty damn! I moved to the next one and when I leaned to get my bottle of fresh water I got a glimpse of the round to where everybody was staring, it was a fight, actually one guy was grabby… Kyle...-oh hell- by his back while another punched him with his fist.

I gripped my bottle of water. There were blood on his nose, I moved to the red cups and filled one with coke. Shit he was hitting him really hard in the stomach… oh shit… oh shit.

"So…" Jim's voice said at my back.

Don't ask me why, maybe it was the tequila, maybe was my straight look or maybe I did have suicidal whishes after all, but the thing is that I turned on my heels gave Jim my bottle of water and Jack's coke and looked at the soccer team's captain one last time, he seemed like he was swaying but maybe was the adrenaline already clouding my head for what I was about to do. I ran… fast and pushed some of the onlookers away and threw myself over the guy strangle-holding Kyle's purple face, we all fell on the floor. I crashed the guy's head with my knee and rolled on the floor, there was a roar, I looked at my right where Kyle was already up as the guy who was hitting him lumbered toward him and Kyle quickly rose his leg and kicked the guy right in his Adam's apple.

How in the hell he got to rise his leg that high?

The guy fell on his knees holding his throat with his hands while a groan came out of his mouth. I felt a tug on my ankle and jerked my leg startled. Kyle pulled me by the back of my jacket.

"Run!" He said and then everything was chaos.

People were moving from all directions, the music and the screams mixed making a perfect tune for a world's ending scene. We pushed lot of people away and got lost in the crowd but by the yells at our backs we knew that we right behind us, we kicked the doubles door open and started running down the street passing by the dirty facades of the buildings feeling my heart slamming violently against my ribs as my breath hitched and my throat scraped.

We turn on some random streets hoping to them lost, but it was hard the mother fuckers seemed to be part of some marathon team, it was hard to get them lost, after fifteen minutes of running we got to a residential zone, there rows and rows of houses and it wasn't as crowded as the other part of the city, it was calmer hear actually all you could hear was the thuds of our strides as we fled.

My legs were turning into jelly and the lack of air was starting to make me feel sick when Kyle suddenly took a turn on a street, right after taking the curve Kyle stopped and I almost ran into him, we were in a dead end we had to do something and quickly, before I realize Kyle was throwing himself inside the poorly snowed shrub hedged next to us. When I heard the steps in the corner at my back a hand came of nowhere I pulled me toward the house.

I felt the freezing touch of the cold branches scratching my cheeks and gasped.

"What the…." I started angrily.

Kyle clamped by mouth and made me signs to stay quiet.

We waited there for forty minutes or so, we didn't talk or do anything else, we still could hear the furious thuds, we preventatively moved to the shrubs on the left line to hide in case they decided to come inside and look for us. After what felt like ages we didn't hear them anymore.

Kyle unclasped me, my teeth started chattering.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I said angrily as we stood and boarded the dark house to come out from the back just in case those morons were still looking for us.

"Me?" He said insulted

"What the hell you did to them anyway?" I said turning on my heels to look straight at him.

"Nothing" He assured and then his eyes shone with mischief. "I…" He started.

"I don't care okay?" I grunted as he jumped the fence and I started climbing it. "I don't wanna know, the less I know the better for me" I said as I threw myself from the top of the fence and fell over him, we rolled on the moist dirty and my face got slouched with mud.

We stood and Kyle stared at me with a puzzled look. I whipped the mud away and… he cracked in laughs. Really? What the hell was wrong with him?

"You think this is funny?" I shouted. "We could have ended up dead!"

"Sorry… sorry" He said snickering. "But you have to admit it was pretty funny we both running for our lives like the leads characters in a comedy film"

"No! It wasn't…fun...funny" I replied fighting back my urgencies for smiling… oh what the hell! I cracked in laughs too okay? It was so scary but amazing at the same time, we way I knocked down that guy and how Kyle kicked the other's throat so synchronized it was awesome!

At four fifty am we took the train in the station, it was a long and lonely trip, there wasn't many people in the streets at those hours, when we got to our station I was about to head to my dorm when he grabbed me by the shoulder.

"You're hungry?" He Asked, and hell I was pretty hungry so though I just wanted to go home and have some sleep to forget about the total failure that my night was I nodded.

I followed him down the avenue until we headed the pizza place near my dorm great! At least I could get a slice of pizza and went straight to my bed right after.

He opened the front door for me and changed the sign from closed to open.

"Are you guys opened this early?" I asked stunned.

"I told you people here love pizza" He chuckled as he started approaching the tables to take down the chairs and put the spices on their places.

"Actually people usually comes by seven or so" Said as I helped him putting the chairs on their place.

"You should call and tell them you're sick they're gonna get you in trouble if you fell fast asleep during work" I said with a grin as he guided to the kitchen and opened some packs with lettuce, cheese slices and hamburgers.

"Hamburgers?" I said with irony.

"When you work in a place like this you learn to hate the pizza" He chuckled.

I laughed.

He made a Hamburger and I ate mostly in silence, my body was all sore and I still wasn't fully recovered of my sleepless days while we were shooting our video so I craved for my bed so bad!

"Don't you have a game this afternoon?" I asked as I chewed my last bite.

"If Jack doesn't kicks me out of the team for fighting in the rave yes!" He nodded.

I took a sip of the strawberry milkshake he made for me. "I don't think he got to see you, he seemed pretty absent the last time I saw him" I said finishing my milkshake and standing up shoving my hands on my pockets to pay for my breakfast. Really Hamburger? I got I really needed to start going to a gym!

"What are you doing?" He chuckled.

"I'm paying you" I replied confused.

"They are not in the menu" He explained, "And I made it to thank you"

"Okay thanks then" I said turning on my heels and opening the door, the bell rang on my back.

"Stily!" He said and I turned.

"I mean it… thank you!"

I laughed, the dried blood on his nose was already falling and now it was only a red mustache that made him look hilarious. "For what? They broke your nose anyway"

"Yeah for saving the other half of my nose too" He giggled, "But mostly for helping me I really needed to do a good job with the video and I'm not saying that you have to help me again or anything else, I just want us to be friends"

I considered for a second, it was too much troubles to bare to not mention that because of him I ruined all my chances to get close to Jack.

"And talking about the video that song you put on it, you know Native's culture?"

"Do you know them?" I said impressed.

"Dude I've been looking for their first album for ages! What was its name?"

"Mockingbird" I said. "I got it in a box set a friend gave for Christmas"

Before I realized he was before me, his hazel eyes sparkling with excitement, staring at me as if I was something rare something he hadn't see in his whole life before…it was… I swallowed and felt a knot in my stomach.

"Right" He said grinning "We should…listen to it sometime" Suggested with a deep voice without break the eye contact.

_Don't say its date, don't say it's a date!_

"It's a d…definitely good idea" I replied chuckling uneasy, my stomach plunged down and my heart shuddered.

I turned back to the street pulling down my face while my cheeks burned and I fought a smile that threatened to come in… I lost that battle… I lost that war, and right after I crossed the street I understood it, I liked Kyle I really did, there was something that made me want to hit him and kiss him at the same time, it was him! It wasn't Jack who I've been looking for! It was Kyle all this time it has always been him, my night wasn't a failure anymore I got my tests' subject right in the bag because he had exactly what I needed to execute the plan and that something was my heart.


	4. Chapter 4

Don't look me that way, have you ever heard the phrase kill your darlings? According to William Faulkner, in writing, you must kill all your darlings. Get rid of what isn't working and keep only what truly matters, for me that meant to leave everything behind, start fresh and become a new Stiles; a cold hearted asshole with only one purpose in life, I had to forget about my feelings, it was the only way, it could hurt, it was going to hurt but I didn't care, I was doing it for the rest of the gays in the world to tell them that they were not alone even if that meant to feel some pain and heartache in the process. I was determinate and ready, I wasn't shallow anymore and wouldn't let that selfish things like love distract me from my goal.

Now, as you have probably assumed already I started writing this after I saw the videos and talked with betches about them, so from now on to make this more interactive I'm gonna start telling you what happened with them while I was busy with Kyle, and I promise I'll do my best to recall their thoughts and feelings while everything happened.

….

So… While I was busy running for my life with Kyle, Jim was making sure I didn't lose my chances with Jack –what a good friend-. It was almost three in the morning, the confusion and the movement of the people mixed with the light shows and the music to make it look like a pandemonium, many ran and others tried to stay calm and keep enjoining the party but it was crazy to see anything through that turmoil, he looked for me several times and he was a little confused he could swear he saw me running toward the throng which didn't make any sense considering what a pussy I was –mother fucker- in other hand Isaac hadn't show up in the party so the most reasonable thing he could do was take a look on Jackson and keep him busy while I got back.

Jim look around for the rest of the betches, he found Cass and Tim talking to a pair of guys who seemed pretty alike at his back Freddy kept dancing with at least five girls, he rolled his eyes and gripped the bottle of water and the coke he was holding, Jackson wasn't far from him just some steps and a mayhem away, Jim's plan was to stay at safe distance while I came back but after he saw that the guy was having a hard time to stay standing still so he decided to approach.

Jim didn't have the same issues that I with his body he felt really comfortable about himself and more than self-esteem he got a big ego but who wouldn't he was hot and rich after all…but… He felt a little uneasy approaching Jackson that night, maybe it was the tequila shots he took with me that night or maybe the flawless and perfect that Jack looked even when he couldn't stop saying.

Jim addressed him and parted his lips to talk, those twinkling clear blue eyes fixed on him and Jim swallowed, the guy craned his neck to get a better view of Jim, something wriggled inside him as he stared speechless.

Jackson rose a hand and Jim stepped back.

The guy stumbled with something and fell, hitting his forehead with the stark and dusty ground. Jim threw the water and the coke and hurried to help him stand.

Jim made his best to help him stand, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling up, he was pretty heavy but Jackson helped him by hugging the staircase that took to the upper levels of the storehouse, it took them some gasps to get him up again.

When he was standing suddenly let go from Jim's grasp, he looked him again from top to bottom with diverted blood-injected.

"Are you ok dude?" Jim asked.

Jackson didn't reply, he was so drugged he probably didn't even know who he was… yeah, Jim thought it was me who drugged Jack.

The guy turned his back on him and started stumbling on his way out of the building.

Jim looked for me with his eyes now that the things settled a little but I wasn't on sight, then he pulled out his new cellphone to call me but I guess I was too busy trying to not die to pick up, anyway he didn't know I was gone and I wouldn't listen anyway with all the noise of the flashy music in the building.

Then he looked for one of the guys that was with him and with me when I talked to Jack but it was impossible for him to remember their faces especially with all those spinning lights, so… gritting his teeth Jim headed the door and opened it, the bouncers at the door gave him a suspicious look and he looked them back with boredom, then he inspected the area with his eyes, the street was dark and cold, the only light came from a dangling lamppost some steps away, at his right he could see a group gathered next to some stairs surrounded by a thick cloud of what smelled like pot.

He wandered around cursing me in his insides, Jim wasn't a person of much patience and he lost it right after I decided to vanish inside the roaring crowd, he was about to give up and look for me inside the storehouse when he saw a shadow prying through his car? He wasn't sure, it was so dark he couldn't tell but…

"Hey you!" He shouted.

The Shadow remained still.

Jim slowly approached looking around trying to find something that might be useful in case he had to defend himself but all he could see was trash and a line of vomit in the wake of the lurking shape.

"What the hell are you doing?" He demanded when he reached the car.

He grabbed the shadow by the shoulder and the head fell on its side, it was the guy, Jackson! Relying back to his car with his eyes half-opened, what a junk! He couldn't believe his car's alarm didn't squeak, he was basically sleeping on his car!

In his car… there were dozens of cars out there, but…

Jim shook his shoulder "Hey wake up!" He ordered moody, he was going to ruin the paint.

"Sorry…sorry" Jackson said with pasty voice while he tried to stand. "I'm just… I don't feel right"

"You're just high" Jim replied rolling his eyes, this guy was a whiny little girl.

"Move your ass" Jim ordered.

He didn't move, his eyes were closed and his breathing suddenly went heavy and steady. Jim damned me at least another forty minutes until he gave up on trying to wake him up and instead of kicking he out he dragged him into the car.

When Jack safely resting the backseat Jim got in the car and drove away from the party, what a way of night he though while he thought what the hell he was going to do now with him.

He drove for fifty minutes, it was Friday night or Saturday early morning so the city was pretty crowded, when he got to the college campus the sun was starting to rise, he climbed down the car in the parking lot and let Jack resting in the back seat while he walked by the deserted grounds. The air was a little brisk so he made a run toward the art's dorms to heat up a little. He knocked my door three times before losing my mind and opening the door using his credit card, he found the place deserted when he came in where the hell are you betch? He thought moodily giving up, he needed me to decide what the hell do to with Jack but in other hand he was pretty tired by now, he just wanted to get some rest, so a little listless he got back into his car and drove back home with Jack still lying in the back seat of his Volvo.

….

The enthusiasm already faded by when I got into the dorms, the hallway was deserted and you couldn't hear a noise through the cream colored walls, it seemed like most of my neighbors were still in the rave, when I got to my dorm I found the door ajar, Derek and Allison were the lasts coming out the night before, how could they be so irresponsible? Well maybe Derek forgot to close the door because he was too busy listening to Allison's yells, damn I couldn't believe what a bitch she could be sometimes poor Derek I bet he got an awful night and just because she was in her period or something, maybe I shall talk to him later about it before it was too late.

I got in and luckily everything was on its place, good! For a second I thought I was going to find the place upside down and all our stuffs gone, he wasn't in his bed by the way so it meant they stayed at Allison's, I rolled my eyes, kicked off my shoes and jumped on my bed. I closed my eyes and suddenly Kyle's were staring at me again the Same uncomfortable and breathtaking way, I sighed and drifted away.

….

When Jim opened his eyes he forgot for a second where he was but then the stench to lavender knocked him back to real world, the first thing he noticed is how illuminated his room was, what time is it? He wondered while he held his head, what a crazy night. He look at his left where Jackson rested with his mouth slightly opened, his eyes were closed, his light olive skin and his straw hair shone with the sunlight and for a second made him look as if had a mysterious and eerie aura surrounding him.

Jim grabbed his wristwatch from the ebony nightstand, it was pretty late, almost three pm they had sleep the whole morning and part of the afternoon. The cold marble floor hit his soles, a little dizzy walked to his dresser a grabbed a flannel to put on his bare chest, then he went to the mirror in the next white-painted wall and took a look at himself in the mirror, and there was Jackson in the mirror too, lying on his bed he looked so sexy if he could only… He shook his head and his stomach groaned, it was Saturday afternoon which meant that his mom was in the spa and his brothers all trying to find a way to get their asses in trouble, the house was always empty on weekends, having the house for them alone and that guy lying on his bed… if he could only….

"You're awake!" A mocking voice said from the door.

Jim rolled his eyes and turned on his heels "Sadly for you I am" he replied. "What do you want?"

"Nothing Jimmy just came to check up you were alive" Evan laughed with sharp eyes.

"Shouldn't you be at your girl's house or something?" Jim asked "Oh wait don't tell she dump you again" Chuckled.

Evan arched a brow delighted "what? Are you desperate to stay alone at home with your boyfriend?"

Jim pressed his lips on a thin line.

"Or is that you're afraid what mom might…"

"Is mother home?" Jim asked feeling his insides scorching raw.

"No, but she saw you earlier when she came to wake you for breakfast" Evan giggled.

"Good! That way she gets used to see his butt around often" He lied thought he would love to see his mother's face after hearing that, it was time for her to forget Gabe.

"You know? I has always wondered how you and your friends do, I mean who is man and who is woman?" Evan laughed.

Jim's heart stopped short and then he chuckled "That's funny, I've been asking myself the Same question about Gloria and you" Jim snickered and passed by his older brother at the door. "You know it's hard to tell with that big mustache that she has"

Evan said some other things to his back but Jim didn't pay attention, instead he went downstairs. Their house was a house manor with more rooms than people to occupy them, with all the walls painted pearl according to his mother, for Jim it was sad white, the long corridors had red curtains with golden laces that matched the carpet, he lived there with his mom and his three older brothers, their father was always working so they barely see him.

_Thank you mother_ he thought as he got into the kitchen and found the covered trays over the black marble table, he assumed that it was her way to say he can stay, his mom was a little crazy she thought that having a gay son was trending topic and she always tried to match him with her friend's sons –all of them snob sluts- and whenever he insinuated he liked some guy she didn't know she freaked out because she wanted a pedigree boy for him as if they were dogs or something. The only real guy she seemed to like was Gabe, oh how she cried when he told her that Gabe wasn't coming back, yeah she was crazy really crazy! She didn't even care that Jim was a mess by then, she didn't notice or cared all she cared was herself and the committee of boring mothers she was part of.

Jim grabbed the trays and came back to his room, when he got in found Jack putting on his shoes.

"You're awake" He said a little bored.

"Who…Who are you?!" Jackson demanded looking at him as if he was a murdered. "What do you did to me?" Said with shaky voice and his breathing hitched like he was near to have an attack.

"Me? Save your ass!" Jim grunted.

"What….what do you mean? Help!" Jack shouted stepping back with a grimace trying to protect his eyes from the sunrays.

"Shut up! There's no one at home!" Jim replied putting the trays on the bed.

"What do you want?"

"You to shut up and listen!" Jim said moody "You were the one who threw himself drugged over my car last night" He accused.

Jackson who was about to argue stopped short and looked at him with wide opened eyes, they were an came all around the room, and paced around as if he were trying to find his memories scattered in the floor. After ten minutes of nonsense with himself he sat on the bed still confused.

"You don't get high too often right?" Jim snorted.

"I…I…" Stared the soccer player looking around like a frightened little boy "I don't do drugs I swear!"

"Relax Boy Scout no one is calling the cops" Jim laughed.

d  
>d<p>

"Whe…where am I?"

"My house, I tried to wake you many times to drive you home but you didn't respond and I was pretty busy and…"

Jack stayed still looking into the nothingness as if he were recalling something "What time is it?" Asked blinking the drowsiness away.

"It's three pm or so" Jim explained taking a bite of the toast bread of his tray "You should eat by the way, mother don't like the people who doesn't eat her food"

"Is your mother home?" Jack said embarrassed "I thought you said…"

"She's not, but she might be in her way back home"

"Good! I need to call the police"

"Take it easy buddy, people do that often in those kind of parties"

Jack gaped.

Jim rolled his eyes what a looser he thought with disappointment.

"Three pm? The game!"

"What game?" Jim asked confused.

"I… I have game right now!" Jack said scared.

"Okay eat them and go to your game" Jim replied looking at him as if he was crazy.

"You don't understand, I should be there right now, how far are we from Oakwood?"

"Far" Jim chuckled.

"This is impossible, how can this be happening to me? I just wanted the team to have a good time! I just went there to take care of them! I didn't even want to go and now…"

"Take it easy, I'll drive you there but you gotta calm down dude" Jim said with a grin, he couldn't tell why but Jackson's overreaction was so funny and cute at the Same time, it was like staring to a twenty years old kid. "Eat some, I'll take you to your game" He offered and turned on his heels to find something to wear on his dresser and for no reason he started smirking in his insides.

….

My head throbbed when I woke up, and the sunrays burned my pupils as I grimaced and hid my face under the pillow, damn I felt so thirsty and stiff, all my body ached and I couldn't place why… oh! Right! I forgot I almost got my ass kicked because of Kyle. The thought of Mr. Worst performance made my guts squirm, the way he looked at me in the eyes just hours ago, so solemn and deep scrutinizing me realizing for the first time there was much inside me than what he had seen at the beginning.

I smiled and my head throbbed harder!

Rolled on my back and came out of my soft and cozy bed lethargically, I wanted to sleep some more but I couldn't help feeling like a useless breathing bag while I laid on my bed, so with gritted teeth and went into the showers.

God! I woke up in the right time! I mean the showers were almost empty, there were only two or three guys finishing to shower and I really needed to pee, so I went into one of the toilets while I waited for the showers to clear out. When I confirmed I was alone I quickly took off my clothes and went for a hot and revitalizing bath. I stood in front of the center shower and slowly turned the hot water key and felt the spray of water over my body, yeah I know I was such a dork waiting for the showers to be alone to get shower, most of the time I bathed on early mornings and late nights when no one was around, but I couldn't help it okay? It wasn't just all the I-might-get-a-boner-in-front-of-everybody thing, I didn't felt much comfortable with my body, actually I avoided to see myself in the mirror and don't look at me as if I'm crazy, many people feel the Same way, it was a hard thing but I tried to not think much about it.

The water started heating up too much and my skin quickly rose its temperature, I could almost see my shoulders reddening so I turned the cold water key a little until my body warmed a little, I chuckled I couldn't believe that I almost forgot that in that Same very shower I taped the shower scene with Kyle, I blushed thinking about his half-naked moist body and smiled.

I heard steps at my back. "Shit"

I cut the water stream and hurried to go to the other side of the showers where I could circle and grab my towel without letting anyone seeing nake…

"Stiles, relax it's me" Derek's voice's said at my back.

Crap!

I covered my butt crack with my palm and replied without turning "Hey! You're back" Said casually hurrying to continue in my way to my towel. When I got to wrap my private parts with it I sighed with relief and turned on my heels almost bumping with Derek who was just behind me, had he see me? My cheeks burned and I looked away.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked arching a brow.

"Umm nothing" I said rolling my eyes.

"I told you it was me" He chuckled "Anyway, how was the party?" Asked while he started taking off his shirt and… Oh Hell! When the hell this happened?

I blinked, yeah I really did! I mean what the hell? He started coming to the gym just a year and half ago it was impossible that his body were so… He took off his shirt and damn! All those muscles so bulky and tensed, a perfect six pack in his abdomen and please don't let me talk of how taut his nipples were. Oh God! Now I felt really bad about myself and my body, I quickly crossed my arms casually and pretended a smile "Cool, it was fine" I said without giving it much importance.

"Are you sure?" He said cresting his brow.

"Yeah why are you asking?" I laughed.

"You look nervous" He pointed out.

Oh no! He knew, he knew I got in trouble in the party, he knew!

Calm down Stiles, He doesn't know shit, he was with Allison remember?

Yeah I was right, there wasn't way he could know that I got in trouble in the rave, and what if he knew? I was an adult I didn't need him nor his muscles to protect my reckless ass.

"No, it was just fine" I assured calming down a little.

He kept his brow furrowed a little more and then unwrinkled it "Okay" Said not much convinced.

"What about you?" I changed the subject while he started taking off his pants and I pulled up my briefs under the towel.

"What about what?" He asked confused.

"How was your party?"

He took a moment to consider it "It wasn't a party, it was just a celebration for my mother's in law forty six birthday" He explained.

"Isn't a celebration the Same as a party?" I giggled.

"No, a celebration is a thing you do with old people" He laughed.

I laughed too.

"So it was boring uh?" I said feeling sorry for him.

He took another moment to think his answer, alright I was full of crap but hey! Derek was worst liar than what I was, he got a terrible night I could easily tell.

"It was fine" Lied "I brought you cake, it is over your bed" Said when he started taking off his trusses and I turned, yeah I know we were used to bath together when we were kids but it was a zillion years ago, watching Derek naked now could be awkward and overwhelming considering how his body changed with a full year of gym and I felt enough bad about myself to add feeling jealous about my best friend to the list.

I brushed my teeth while Derek got into the shower, then went into my dorm and dressed up, when I was done looked around it was Saturday afternoon and I got nothing to do, maybe… maybe I could read a book, yeah it seemed like a pretty good idea.

I took a bite of the strawberry frosted cake that Derek brought me and grabbed my hand bag to head to the college library, I wasn't in the mood to walk to the book store so instead started walking, most of the snow already melted when I got out and instead fresh green grass covered the campus grounds, most of the trees were taken with people hanging around, many were reading some others playing music in their guitars, some girls chatted at my left, I waved a couple of class mates on my way to the library, the building was two hundred feet away from the theater so I hadn't to walk much.

The library was a high edifice with granite walls and bookshelves wherever you looked, I greeted Mrs. Patterson the librarian when I got in, the air was cold and it smelt like old parchments inside, it was the definition of peace, I felt like home inside that place I couldn't wait to graduate and film the movies based on my favorite books. The library was obviously silent so I could rejoice reading in one of the tables for hours though that day I preferred to take the books with me to my dorm, Derek and I had nothing to do and Them –our favorite TV show- wasn't at air until ten pm, so maybe we could crouch on his bed and read a little. I went into the new arrivals' shelf and grabbed three books, the ones who's covers seemed more interesting, yah I know they say don't judge a book by its cover but the funny thing about it is that it is ironically wrong, because people tend to judge books by their covers and their names and I was pretty fascinated by these threes.

I went to Mrs. Patterson' desk gave her my card and the names of the books and came out of the library, saved two of the books in my bag while I walked absently staring at the book cover of the one who seemed more interesting of the three, I started reading the synopsis and getting fascinated by it when I noticed that I had been going anywhere but my room, I stopped and looked around, I was near the soccer field and around me many people were approaching it in large parties and then the memory flashed my mind… Kyle… he got a game that afternoon could it be in there? Maybe I could check out if he was there, I shouldn't see him yet I hadn't talk to the betches yet after all but… I could see him from far while he played it didn't count as hanging out or anything.

I was behind the bleachers that were taken by a modes crowd, in there wasn't anyone yet in the playing field and I wondered if Kyle hadn't drifted away in his shift, I hoped not, I sat in the bottom line staring at the grass without a clue of what the hell was I doing there when someone shook my shoulder and I craned my neck.

"You came!" Kyle said happy and shocked to see me. He was wearing the Same outfit we used in out film, a white soccer jersey with blue collar and sleeves, some stripes in the sides and a big wolf's head in the middle with the words Oakwood Wolves between its claws.

"Oh hey!" I replied fighting off a smile, "Yeah you know how much I like to see your ass kicked"

He rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe you are awake after all" I pointed out looking at the deep bags under his eyes, he looked like a skull.

"I got to" He said reluctantly "I'm pretty tired actually, just want this to be over to get into my bed"

"What are you waiting?" I asked while I looked at the right side of the field where a crowd of guys wearing red soccer costumes seemed expectantly.

"Jack, we don't know what the hell happened with him" He grunted with his eyes fixed in the parking lot behind the fence.

Jack? "What do you mean with you don't know what happened to him?" I frowned.

"He should be here by now, you have been waiting for twenty minutes if he doesn't show up in the following ten we're going to lose for forfeit" Kyle explained with exhaustion in his voice.

"Why don't you call him then?"

"We tried, his phone is turned off" He said a little preoccupied.

"Well maybe he just got really drunk last night and doesn't know where his ass is or something" I joked.

"He doesn't drink Stiles, or takes drugs that's why this all seems so weird"

"There is a first time for everything" I affirmed when his eyes suddenly shone.

"There he is!" He breathed out with relief.

I tilted my head to the Same spot where Kyle was looking at and I gaped there he was, Jackson Whittemore walking into the playing field followed by… Jim? Of course by then I didn't know anything of what happened while I left the rave the night before so I was pretty shocked.

"What is he doing with your friend?" Said confused and my heart skipped a beat? Friend? How did he know that Jim and I were friends? Oh shit!

Kyle left to meet with Jack and the rest of the team in a small room at the right side of the field and Jim approached me.

"You're into sports now betch?" Said the bastard taking sit next to me while looked at me through his sunglasses coolly.

"We can't be seen together" I pointed out without turning to look at him. "Kyle knows we know each other"

"Impressive" Jim said in a snort.

"What the hell were you doing with Jackson Whittemore?" I demanded feeling my insides burning to the thought of Jim alone with Jack in his car, that bitch was fast!

"I'm sorry but we can't be seen together remember?" Jim chuckled and stood to take sit in the other side of the bench.

After a couple of minutes, Jack came out of the small room now wearing his soccer gear and followed by the rest of the team. I didn't pay attention to the game, was too busy trying to somehow read Jim's mind and discover all his secrets, tried to text him asking him about Jack but he just said_we'll talk later_ talk later? Really? How in the hell he thought he could just hang out with the hottest guy in the world, my hottest guy in the world! And get away with it?

Someone just scored.

I didn't pay attention I was really mad, I couldn't believe that Jim went after Jack right after I came to save Kyle's ass, Oh right! I wasn't supposed to see Jack anymore, Kyle was my target now…but! Oh come on! It was Jack! Mr. Tatum Gosling himself! How couldn't I just stay with crossed arms and pretend I didn't feel jealous when I could almost feel my face turning green.

There was another score and I decided to focus on what was going on in the field and it didn't make much difference, instead of concentrating in the game I was staring at the players, oh! Maybe those guys kicked my ass last night to death because I felt in heaven! Yeah! I mean everyone in the playing field was hot! But really hot! Okay not as hot as the Jack level but way too hot still, but there was someone… a guy who was above the rest of them, Kyle… Oh god there I was staring at him! But I couldn't help it, he was the jerk with the ball running next to the other's team boys rapidly, moving with such grace almost in a swagger as if it was just a game to him, well, it was obviously a game but he made it look pretty much easier than what it really was, how is that he never showed this side of him while we were recording the video? Oh right! Our film wasn't about him being a badass soccer player but a loser, anyway he was awesome and I was amazed by the way he moved even when you considered how tired he should be, and those legs! I didn't get what was wrong with them but the rest of the players including the other team were pretty alike, they had the Same tensed muscles in their legs, but Kyle, Kyle was a different story he had at least another twenty pressed tight especially in his thighs were the sweat drops slide following all the curbs on them, it was amazing to look at them, okay I needed to stop staring he hadn't the ball anymore.

The crowd roared one last time and that was it! Yeah I remember watching soccer games for ten minutes when I was desperately trying to be straight and they were boring to death but this one… it wasn't fair! It was pretty short, maybe it felt so short because I was too busy stalking Kyle and Jack but it definitely was much more funny than those games you see in the TV. The people started leaving the bleachers while the Wolves gathered in the small building behind the left corner of the playing field celebrating their victory, they won! How cool! I remained in the Same spot looking at Jim with the corner of my eye waiting for the guys to get inside the bleachers and the rest of the people to go to lumber over him to drill him with questions but the field never cleared, Kyle stayed there messing around with a couple of guys while Jack was inside with two or three more. When I lost my patience I stood to get near Jim but in that moment he stood with his eyes focused in the locker room.

"Not now betch" He said making me signs to stay there.

I frowned _what the hell?_

….

He climbed down the steps and got into the playing field with his eyes focused on the locker room as if he were looking something, behind he could feel my eyes following him but he just ignored me. He passed by the guys that still celebrated their victory emptying bottles of water over each other. The door of the locker room was open when he got in, it was dark and at first all he could see was the shine of the sunlit against the three first lockers near to the door, the air was moist and hot and there was a disgusting stench of sweat that almost made him to clamp his nose with his hand, the floor was dusty and at the other side of the lockers row he could hear an intense arguing, he hurried to approach the line's corners and position himself in a place where no one could see him.

"It was the only thing I drank the whole night!" Jack's voice roared.

"How do you know? It could have been anyone!" Another voice replied mockingly.

"Are you sure of this Jack?" A third voice asked stunned. "It could have…"

"It couldn't have been anyone else! It was him! I warned him the last time to behave! Why did you did this? I offered to accompany you guys to stay out of trouble!" Jack reproached.

"It wasn't me!" The other voice laughed.

"Stop mocking at me!" Jack growled.

"Okay it was me! So what? What are you going to do?" The voice said daringly.

"You're out of the team!" Jack said bossily.

"You can't kick me, we just won. I helped you won!" The shouted now furious.

Jim leaned from his haste, he was behind a brown haired guy who was in front of Jack whose face was red with fury.

"I made you won the first game in your pathetic captain career!"

"I don't care, you stepped in the borderline and I will not allow such behavior in my team!"

The guy cracked in sarcastic laughs "Your team? Now is your team! You win a game and you think you can boss us around?"

"I'm your captain and you will show me respect!"

"Or what?"

"I won't threaten you Greg you can leave or I'll talk to the coach and tell him, then I'm going to the police and…"

It happened so fast! Jim didn't have a chance, this Greg guy lumbered over Jack and started punching him as Jack fall on his back.

"Dude come on! Calm down!" The other guy said trying to hold Greg but this guy threw him away with a blow.

Jim took his chance and strangle held him from behind before he got a Chance to hit Jack again. Greg tried to kick back and Jim curled his leg around his and both felt to the floor, Jack stood and grabbed Greg by the collar of his shirt and stamped him against the lockers, Jim hurried to stand while the other guy passed by him.

"Stay out of here Greg, just leave and I promise no one will know about what you did"

"Come on dude, it was just a joke I just wanted you to enjoy the…"

"I mean it!" Jack raged.

Jim stepped back in awe, the his eyes flared it was like if the guy standing before him was a totally different person from the scared little boy that he found running in circles in his room that morning, how could be? How did he manage to look charming and scaring at the Same time? How could he growl like a real wolf and still be surrounded by this sweet and bright light that illuminated everything around him?

Jack let Greg go. The brown haired moron threw Jack a despiteful glance and then stared a Jim.

"Who the hell are you?" Grunted.

"Someone with enough lawyers to get your ass in jail for raping an eight year old girl" Jim replied with a sneer.

"I didn't…"

Jim arched a brow suggestively.

Greg cursed and then turned to grab a bag and let them alone.

Jim snorted and Jack tilted his head to look at him, Jim suddenly felt intimidated by his stark expression but it quickly faded as their eyes met.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked smiling at him.

Something shuddered inside Jim "I…I… that was the guy who drugged you?" He asked.

Jack nodded.

Jim opened his eyes wide, he thought it was me who drugged Jack! He owed me an apology.

"You haven't answered my question" Jack said putting a hand on Jim's shoulder.

"I was just concerned, many drugs has side affects you could have collapse and…"

"You stayed the whole game?" Jack said shocked, there was now an eerie light on his eyes.

Swallowed hard and nodded.

Jack made a lopsided grin and a pair of dimples flashed on his rosy cheeks. "Thank you" Said loud and happily and then surrounded Jim with his sweated arms and Jim stepped back openmouthed, who was this guy?

"It was nothing, I got lucky I was behind him" He assured.

"I wasn't talking about Greg, I was talking about everything" Jack explained and smirked again.

And again for no apparent reason Jim smiled.

"Um… I have to ask you something buddy and I'm really embarrassed for asking but I really need it" Jack said embarrassed as his whole face reddened.

Jim licked his lips fighting the urgency he felt for laughing though he didn't know why.

"Can you drive me home? I'm really tired and my parents must be concerned about me, I'm not used to spend the night out they must think something happened"

Jim stared at him for a second in silence, parents? Concerned? There he was the Same boy he met that afternoon in his room, who was this guy? Who was Jackson Woods?

"Yeah sure, no problem" He replied "Good work at the game by the way" Added and patted him in the back.

….

I stayed there for how long? Twenty minutes? I don't know, what I know is that I was getting sick of watching Kyle messing around with his morons in the playing field while I waited for Jim to get out of the locker room, who the hell this betch though he was? What was he doing with Jack alone in there? Was Jack gay? Oh god if Jack was gay…I was going to put a bullet through my head for losing my chance but would shot another first to Jim's sassy ass for taking advantage.

They came out… they came out! TOGETHER! I hurried to stand and was about to follow them when a tall shape stepped in the middle.

"Have you saw how awesome I was?" Kyle asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah as awesome as humble?" I mocked.

"What? You got to admit that I was pretty cool"

I rolled my eyes again and tried to look to the left, damn they were getting into Jim's car! Fuck!

"Oh come Kyle it wasn't that great!" I said in a chuckle.

"You got to be kidding me I scored five goals!" He pointed out.

"Yeah but you scored two" I recalled him.

"We won because of me!"

"Whatever!" I said bored, I could see how his face quickly reddened and his ego deflated it was so funny! I liked to make him mad!

"God! What do I have to do to impress you?"

_Impress me?_ _Why do you want to impress me?_

"Becoming a kickass actor?" I crackled in laughs.

"You got to help me in that" He reminded me.

"Anyway are you guys planning something to celebrate?" I asked, maybe I couldn't know right now what was going on between Jack and Jim but… I could get to spend some time with Kyle and work on the horrible human beings project.

"Yeah the guys are planning to…"

"Well good luck getting your ass kicked again" I laughed.

"That's not happening Stiles, even I have limits and I'm pretty tired all I want know is get in bed and wake up next year"

"Oh!" I sighed disappointed "So no party?"

He shook his head "I better get going, gotta wake up early to work" Said disheveling my hair, oh come on! I wasn't five years old you asshole!

"Oh by the way" He suddenly said, "there is this course of script writing that starts next week"

I frowned "Oh yeah?"

"And I was thinking that we should join"

We joining?

"What about your work? Didn't you have a tight itinerary?" Wondered.

"Well I was working with this insupportable filmmaking guy till a couple of weeks past but we are done" He started.

I hit him in the arm, it hurt me more than him for sure.

"And I can ask to come out earlier from work, I'm sure they won't mind"

I had to think about it "I don't know, when you said it starts?"

"Wednesday eight pm in the conference room near the cafeteria"

I pressed my lips tight "Sure why not?" I agreed still thinking about it.

"Later then" He waved with a triumph smile on his face and then strode off leaving me there disappointed for not having more time to hang out that night.

….

The way until Jack's house was pretty quiet, Jim was hoping to hear more about Jack and what happened with Greg and why the guy drugged him in the first place, but the soccer team's captain seemed pretty tired actually he drifted away a couple of times while Jim drove but quickly woke up fixing his eyes on the road and apologizing though Jim said he didn't have to.

Jack lived in the north side of the city where were most of the upper classes suburbs, his neighborhood was nice though, Jim could see that his family wasn't that kind of vain people that use to live in those places because their house was actually pretty meek, beautiful but modest. He stopped the car outside, all the lights of the two story house were lit and it was then when Jim noticed that it was noon already.

"Is here isn't it?" Jim asked.

Jack nodded.

"Well, here we are" Jim announced with a smirk though he felt a little disappointed because he didn't know when he would get a chance to see him again and if he wanted to get something for our project he needed a guy and this guy was THE GUY.

"Yeah now comes the hardest part" Jack said with a sad smile.

"You kicked that asshole from the team, what can be harder?" Jim snorted.

"Now I need to find to his replacement before next game"

"Oh" Jim said taken aback and then an idea came and…

"That's the problem we got not enough players and without Greg"

"What about me?" Jim suggested.

"You?" Jack said looking at him suspiciously.

"What?" Jim murmured at the moment he got a text from me and ignored the phone, oh that bitch!

"Do you go to Oakwood?" Jack frowned.

"Yeah!" Jim lied "I go there always, I practically live there" Well that wasn't actually a lie, Jim spent most of his free time inside my dorm when I wasn't in class.

"Weird I don't get why I've seen you before, I'm sure I would have remember your face from the cafeteria or somewhere else"

"What do you study?" Jim asked.

"Electronic engineer" Jack replied looking a Jim straight in the face as if he were trying to find a memory of him in his head.

"That's weird! I'm on electronics too" He lied, oh what a good liar that bitch was! "Maybe it is because I'm in first year!"

"I guess is because of that" Agreed and climbed down of the car. "I'll see you Monday at four pm in the playing field then"

Jim nodded, and watched him walk to the porch and then the soccer's captain turned on his heels and quickly approached the car.

"I'm sorry, which was your name?"

Jim chuckled "I'm James"

"I'm Jack"

_Yeah we know that_ "Nice to meet you Jack" Jim replied shaking the guy's hand.

"Thank you again James for everything"

"No problem bro, see you at practice" Jim made a salute and then drove away.

….

"Finally!" I said when Jim knocked my door.

"What?" Jim snorted.

"We have been waiting for hours!" I grunted giving him a chair to sit before my laptop.

"We got to be ready, Derek is recording some night sounds for one of our classes and I don't know when he's going coming back"

"So what?" Tim asked.

"He can't know what we're doing! He's going to freak out" I explained rolling my eyes.

"He's right he's like the enemy after all" Cass pointed out.

No he wasn't, Derek wasn't like them.

I shook my head.

"Now tell me bitch, what the hell were Jackson Woods doing in your car?"

Jim arched a brow, "Nothing" He chuckled.

"I mean it" I said angrily and Jim shoved his hands on his shirt's pocket tugging out the camera I gave him the night before. He put it on my hand and snickered.

I took the camera's memory and inserted in my laptops' slot and started to watch the video.

When I was done I snorted, okay it was that scandalizing as I though, he also told me he thought it was me who drugged Jack and we got to hear Freddy's half hour speech about us getting our butts on jail until we explained that there wasn't drugs involved in the recording of those videos, when Freddy calmed down we watched the rest of the videos while we waited for Hip to show up, no one knew anything about him and he didn't answered his phone either though we left him dozens of voicemails.

Now, let's start for Liam and Freddy both the big failures of the night, Liam well he was dancing with a couples of girls and everything was cool and fine until he decided to go for a drink and stumbled with a guy and said "_I'm sorry sweetie"_And you can imagine how that turned out, Freddy in other hand didn't make such mistake as exposing himself as the fairy he was but… turns out that he danced so awesome that the girls literally didn't want to let him go, he danced and danced and danced and I felt pity for his poor legs but the sun came out and lit up the whole room through the windows in the top of the storehouse and Freddy was still dancing, so in other hand there were two guys less in our plan.

"But we can try again" Freddy suggested.

"Don't worry guys, I got a job for you too" I said with a suggestive smile.

"What do you mean?" Liam asked looking at me suspiciously.

"I need another angles apart from the first person cameras" I explained, "It will give more deep to the project"

"So?" Freddy said still lost.

"I want you guys to follow us with cameras and don't worry I'll show you how videotape with your phones and don't ruin it"

"Follow you guys?"

"Yeah, we're going to schedule the days we're meeting with those guys and you're going to record from another point of view what do you say?" I suggested.

"I don't know" Liam said thoughtful "I gotta work"

"Don't worry that's why we need you both betch" Jim agreed with my idea.

"Yeah I like it, that way my boyfriend won't see me flirting with some random guy" Freddy said and we all craned our necks toward him.

"You got a boyfriend?" We all asked at once.

"Yeah" He said confused "Why you are betches so shocked?"

"You never told us anything!" Liam said hurt.

"You never asked" Freddy pointed out.

After that we watched Tim's and Cass' videos which would be like watching the Same from two different points of view, great! We wouldn't need Liam and Freddy to follow them with the cameras because one camera told the story of the other, and why am I doing such affirmation? Simple.

"Twins?" I said openmouthed as I watched the video, there was something familiar about those boys actually.

Tim and Cass nodded "We didn't mean to" Tim started.

And they really didn't, but they saw first this dark skinned boy with wide arms and they thought about pretend they were talking about gym next to him and he felt on their trap and then they all started talking about the Same subject and half an hour later the guys' twin brother showed up and Tim, Cass and I saw the Same thing in them, Potential!

"I don't get it!" Liam said pouting his glistening lips.

"Oh! I feel you bitch!" Jim said with that look on his face, the Same look I probably had.

"Twins! Don't you get it? Our project has just turned two hundred percent more bizarre and twisted than ever, if we get to hook those two guys into developing confused feelings about Cass and Tim we're going to make our point true! No one will be able to say we're crazy!

"Everyone is going to see how big the things are" Jim added following me.

I saw the video again and then I got it! "They are the Manning twins! Isaac's friends, part of the jackass that made fun of me in that YouTube video!"

"If we get them, if we mess with their mind and tell in the video who they are and what they did to me we'll prove our point that everyone, literally everyone could be one of sexually ambiguous bastards" I made a pause were I could see everything in my mind, it was so perfect! So perfect!

"You just got to look at the video they were happy to know them, they probably made half of our work already!" Jim agreed.

"It is a success, our project is a success!"

Matty never showed up and though we were pretty concerned about him we postposed our meeting when Derek suddenly came in. After that we crouched on his bed to watch the season premiere of _the thing in the woods_a mystery teen drama that we loved and was based in one of our favorite books. Later that night we starting reading some of the new books I got from the library until we drifted away next to each other.

….

That Monday Jim showed up in the playing field for his first official practice with the team, earlier that morning he went shopping to get all the all the stuffs a guy can need for playing soccer –yeah, that includes a fancy water bottle too faggy to even describe it- You know Jim, he likes to be in the limelight and everyone was staring, all the team got their eyes fixed on him and his soccer gear –he even bought a ball for Christ sake- Never mind, he approached them outside the locker room right when Jack was coming out of it carrying some folders with him, his face was crisped by the sunlight to hit him in the eyes though Jim thought that maybe he was pissed about something.

"Where's the coach?" One of the guys at Jim's right asked.

Jack cleared his throat and spoke "He is busy with some family business and…"

"Again? He didn't even came to the game!" Another guy pointed out.

"Oh come on guys! Is his first grandson" Jack tried to calm them down.

"He asked me to be in charge for now" Jack explained gripping the dangling whistle on his chest.

"Hey have anyone seen Greg? He's not here and after the game he seemed…" The short redheaded boy was saying while his eyes stared at Jim suspiciously.

"Greg… um… he decided to leave the team" The team captain said with some hesitation on his voice. "He will be his replacement" Added pointing at Jim "James…"

"Taylor" Jim finished for him.

"Right James Taylor" Jack nodded "He will be part of team from now on, and he will take Greg's position on the field"

There were some mumbles around Jim but no one said anything aloud.

"Alright let's start with twenty laps and then we'll go for some stretching"

After that all the rest of the team started jogging through the field's boundaries and Jim approached Jack.

"Hey" He said.

Jack smiled.

"How's your withdrawal syndrome?" He asked and Jack furrowed.

"I'm not a drug addict, I've ever tried drugs" Replied dryly.

"Take it easy I'm just messing with you" Jim laughed.

"What are you doing?" Jack said sternly.

"What do you mean?"

"I said twenty laps to…"

"Oh come on! You're not…"

"I mean it, you need it to warm up now start before everyone leaves you behind" Jack ordered and blew his whistle.

Jim rolled his eyes and joined the rest of the team in their jogging through the playing field. After two rounds was cursing, but not only Jack but me and the soccer as a sport and everything related to it, the sweat ran down his damp forehead like a cascade, his legs ached and so did his arms, the breathless feeling in his chest and the painful stitch on his stomach made him want to quick to the thought of the remaining eighteen laps.

He didn't know how he managed to do the twenties though I suspect he just ran thirteen and pretended he did much more but the thing is that the sun was starting to fall and Jack called them to the middle of the field where they started doing some stretching exercises, _Great_ he though with relief, now he could catch up with them without looking too weak. How wrong he was, he was good at gymnastic when he was in high school and it wasn't that long time ago right? Why it was so difficult now? Why he was so out of shape? Every inch of his body was sore and ached as hell, what was that? A yoga class or a soccer practice? Since he got there the last thing they did was doing something related to kicking a ball to the goal and he didn't even want to talk about Kyle Saunders who seemed to be the friggin elastic man from the fantastic four.

When they were done Jack decided to make a small and quick game, in shirts against shirtless, Jim got into the bare chest team, which was a problem because he got the camera I gave attached to his jersey though it wasn't a big thing what could I do with a those boring takes about him pretending to be a jock? Yeah they could be funny but they got no place in the horrible human beings project.

Jim spent the whole game recovering all the air he lost in his running, most of the guys came and went through the playing field running after that stupid ball and all he wanted was to lay on the ground and fall fast asleep on the grass but he couldn't, he had to stay alert though it seemed like nobody cared about him because no one seemed to be interested on passing him the ball, Jack passed next him once kicking the ball but Jim didn't tried to take it away from him, he was too exhausted and he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against the team's captain, instead Kyle took it and brought it to the other side of the playing field where he scored the goal that won them the game, great they won! Was he supposed to be happy? He couldn't, he was too damn exhausted and the thought of coming back the next day made him want to jump from a cliff, but he had no choice he agreed to join them and he was committed with my project he couldn't just give up that easily. With gritted teeth and got his stuffs and walked out at the end of the practice, got into his car all sweaty and stinky and prayed for not falling asleep while he drove home.

….

That Wednesday I finished my assignments for sound production early so I could assist to that script writing course that Kyle talked me about, Derek was taking a shower when I finished and I was pretty stressed because it was almost eight and I hadn't take a bath yet, but there much time, despite of spending extra hours with Kyle I really liked the idea of taking the course, because it meant that I could learn a little about it, I mean come on! My last script wasn't a big thing, I was coming through hard times with my writing it wasn't like I was planning on writing for living but if you really want to be a movies' director you better learn how to write, novels, books, scripts, you got to learn to nitrite your mind because it is the only way to unleash your creative self and I needed to be more innovative and witty with my stories or else forget about winning an academy award.

I saved the mix I made and closed my laptop, thrust it in my backpack and ran out of the room though I got this feeling I was missing something. Outside the campus was lit by the lampposts and the rest of the lighting in the outside of the buildings, there were a some cliques hanging around by the pond when I passed by on my way to the conference room near the cafeteria.

Everything was so quiet and dark when I got into the building where this script writing course was taking place, I had to walk through lots of narrow corridors that were fully empty, for a second I got a bad feeling about it, what if all this was a joke from Kyle? I wouldn't be surprised he was still the jerk that said I hit like a girl just weeks ago, well, I was too near the conference room to change my mind. So instead of coming back I hurried my steps and sighed when I saw the sign of the cafeteria in the corner of the hallway I was coming through. I turned left and saw conference room with the only lit light in the whole building, and ran to the door and opened it.

When I got in the first impression I got was damn! How big it was! I hadn't been there before, it was large room with low ceiling and carpeted floor, there were near fifty steel chairs folded in the middle of the room, which most of them were already taken. I looked around and Kyle waved me from the back of the room, on the other side were a couple of men and women discussion something between them and taking a look to some paper sheets.

I hurried to approach Kyle, in my way I recognized many faces of the acting program that were the Same day we presented our joint projects, I waved Lorey who was sitting a couple of lines away from where I was standing and then Missy who was near a pair of Coders that grimaced as soon as they saw me. Missy made me signs to get a chair next to her but all of them were already taken. I sat next to Kyle the right moment all of the men and women in the other side of the room broke their small council and stared at all us.

First they started talking about how impressed they were that many of us decided to join the course, after all they were all waiting less interest from the Filmography program, and we even got some students from engineering and laws. Later they started giving us an introduction about the script writing that was basically the Same things we learned in Mr. Anderson's class when we were in first year. When the woman with the black vest and skirt come to the front to start talking about Shakespeare the door suddenly burst open and a tall shape got in at first I recognized the way that… Oh shit it was Derek! Oh damn I totally forgot about Derek!

Derek and the woman exchanged an awkward silence and stare and then he apologized, she invited him to have a sit and I tried to hide from him.

Kyle jabbed me in the ribs "What's going on?"

I instinctively rose my head and then I felt it, I didn't need to look to my right to know that Derek was staring at me, I can't explained it with words but I just felt it inside me and now I was so embarrassed and this guilty feeling… I just wanted to die, I heard some paces next to me and then they occupied the chair that was empty on my right side and someone –Derek- shook my shoulder, I slowly tilted my head toward him and awkwardly smiled.

"Why you didn't…"He started but the woman in the other side of the room cleared her throat

Derek quickly shut up and the Shakespeare talked continued.

At the end they let us as homework to read a couple of Shakespeare's plays to discus in the next Wednesday. When the class was over a phone rang on my left and Kyle quickly stood and left the room, all of the presents started standing up, many stayed on their places to chat a little, others went into the other side of the room to talk with the men and women that were imparting the course.

I stood and felt Derek's hand on my shoulder.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He said furious at my ear.

The hairs on my neck stood to the end.

"What do you mean?" I said searching for Kyle with my eyes, but the thong was so thick it was impossible to see through.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" He said angrily.

I hurried to come through the crowd to get out of there before Mr. Volcano erupted in front of all of them and made an scene.

"Why you didn't tell me?" I defended myself taking a second to glare at him.

"I didn't know anything about it, if it wasn't for Missy who called when she saw I…"He was saying when I saw Missy approaching us, Oh that bitch! I was in this mess because of her and her big mouth. '

"Hey losers" She said.

I rolled my eyes and took my chance to pass in the middle of an small circle of person, using them as human shield against Derek, I left them on my back and went out, crap! Derek was really pissed and I couldn't agree more with him, I couldn't believe I forgot about telling him about the course, I was a shitty friend and had to make it up to him somehow, maybe I could take him out for breakfast the next morning.

When I opened the door, there were more people in the hallways and on a corner was Kyle holding a cellphone to his ear.

"Yeah I know" He said a little annoyed. "But it is like my thing"

With whom was he talking to?

"Of course I'm not! It is because of Andy… look you don't get it, I… No! Alright go! It is in Abbey square.

Abby square? What was on there?

"No I can't on Friday, got double shift… Fine! Don't go! I don't care, I'll go on Saturday night anyway!" He growled and then cut the call.

"Jesus!" He said turning on his heels.

"Hey what was all…?"

"Sorry can't stay to chat Stiles, it's pretty late" He apologized 'I'll text you later"

Damn it! What was all that anyway? He was going to Abbey square on Saturday night for some reason.

"Here you are?" Derek's angry voice said at my back

I turned with my cheeks burning still on embarrassment and got to hear him the whole night complaining about me and what the hell was going on with me lately and… Okay I didn't pay much attention I was puzzled by Kyle's mysterious call and now I wanted to know more about that Saturday night and how I could use it for my project, as I said before part of the magic happens because we accidentally meet in random places and find out things about each other, so that was what I was going to do, I was going to make an accident happen, I was going to Abbey square on Saturday night!

….

The next day Jim was in the playing field with his shirt on staring at the rest of the players, he wasn't sure how to feel about his first week in the team so far, because in one hand every inch of his body was taut and aching so bad that he considered to leave the team more than once, but in the other hand it wasn't feeling that bad, the soreness of his muscles decreased bit a bit in matter of days and he was feeling more strong and enthusiastic about the jogging and the stretching exercises than the previous days, actually he wasn't feeling too tired or dizzy than before which was a good thing, because it was poker Thursday and he already got an idea to bond a little with Jack.

So when the practice was officially over he left the spot next to the goal were he stayed the whole game and ran after Jack's bare back –you get it? Bareback ha-ha- and he stopped him.

Jackson's golden hair shone with the sunrays but not as bright as his smile when he saw Jim before him.

Jim licked his lips and cleared his throat when he noticed a gleam dangling of a chain in Jackson's sweaty hairless chest and resting over his collar bone.

Jim snorted "You know that's bullshit right?" He laughed taking the crucifix on his hand to take a closer look.

Jack stepped back and snatched it from his hand glaring at him.

"You shouldn't say that" Jack warned him.

"Whatever" Jim mocked "Anyway, I thought we could go out tonight" He said casually putting his arm over Jack's shoulder while they walked to the locker room.

"Going out, us?" Jack frowned reluctantly.

"Yeah why not?"

"I don't know, I'm not used to…" Jack wondered.

"Come on, we gotta chill out a little, I'm not into gossip but our captain is a dick, all he wants to do is practice, practice, practice!" Jim snickered.

"We need to get better!" Jack protested "We need to win our next game!"

"See what I mean?" Jim crackled "Take it easy dude! We won last game"

"You wasn't even part of the team then and it was the first game we won in a while" Jack said pressing his lips tight "We aren't as good as I would like"

"Ok Mr. Captain my captain you win but you gotta admit that you have to calm down a little a forget about soccer once a time"

Jack frowned "I don't know"

"Know what?" Jim sniggered "We're just going to hang out a little have some fun and you'll at home before you notice and you know what? You're going to say how right I was"

"Alright I guess we could tell the guys to…" Jack started but Jim cut him off.

"Do you really wanna invite them after what happened the last time?" He giggled and Jack did too.

"You're right"

"I'll be at your place at eight" Jim said and left swaggering on his way out.

At eight he was outside Jack's house, he just had to honk once when the front door opened and Jack came out hurrying to get in the car.

"What's the backpack for?" Jim snorted.

"I told my parents I was going to study with some friends for a quiz so I had to bring it or they could suspect"

Jim snorted and then there was an awkward silence that lasted at last five minutes, _wait a minute? It is for real?_He thought while he hit the gas and drove away.

Do you remember the awkward silence in the car? Well, it was a night full of them. Jim parked the car outside the building he was used to every Thursday and walked in followed by Jack, the elevator was waiting in the ground floor he got in and hit the button of the seventh floor. There was more awkward silence inside it while the uneasy feeling in the belly announced that they were almost there.

They came out when the lifter stopped, their paces echoed in the walls as they approached the first apartment they saw at their left, Jim knocked twice and a Carlos opened the door for him.

"I thought you weren't coming pendejito" Carlos said making signs to them to get inside.

"And let you take anything from this dorks? Not happening buddy" Jim chortled and got in followed by Jack who seemed pretty uncomfortable.

Carlos had brown his and bold eyebrows, his hair was long and held in a loose ponytail, his arms were broad and his height short, his loft was pretty spacious and it seemed like he cleaned up the place since the last Thursday which meant that he probably got company earlier that day, Jim looked twice before he sat on the table, you never knew were Carlos and his girls had sex.

He greeted the other five guys in the table, Gary, Sven, Dominic, Phillip and Jeffrey, he didn't know them much because they weren't too used to talk while they played though he knew Jeffrey was Carlos' brother or was his cousin? He couldn't remember. Jim offered Jack a table and then Carlos brought them some beers but the captain's team rejected it telling them he got class in the morning, Jim rolled his eyes and took the deck of cards on his hands, those suckers, they never learned Oh! How Jim licked to make fun of them every time he won them at poker, it was a shame they didn't bet lot of money it wasn't like he needed or anything but he loved the idea of humiliating them every week.

Well I won't get in details about the game because I don't know shit about Poker and though Jim tried to explain it to me a couple of times to take me with him I just… I wasn't dump alright? It just wasn't my thing! Anyway all I can remember is that he kicked their asses so badly as usual.

When he lit his third cigarette and took a sip of his fifth beer he offered Jack again to join the game, but again he said he was okay and instead he stayed in his seat staring at the screen of his cellphone occasionally as if he were waiting for something.

Jim finished the night with his third full house and cracked in laughs while the rest of the guys cursed at him and said some things that I would rather not write in here. After that they both got into the car.

"So…" Jim started while he turned on the engine.

"I got a great time" Jack said.

_Liar_Jim thought and then he drove Jack back home, his night was an official failure, he couldn't tell why but apart the fact that Jack was amazingly boring he couldn't explain why but he was having a hard time to establish a conversation with him, yeah the first time was easy they talked about what happened to Jack and everything else but the days at practice… well, nothing happened and now… what did they have? Nothing, it was upsetting. They got no conversation subjects and it was the first time it ever happened to Jim.

….

On Saturday afternoon I prepared for my intelligence mission, I was going to collect some information about Kyle that night, because I was going to accidentally meet with him in whatever he was doing in Abbey square, I got some questions to answer about his weird phone conversation after the script writing course, like with who was he arguing? Or why he wanted to be alone in that place that night? It was intriguing and I couldn't wait to know what the hell was all that about.

I tried different outfits, for a second I recalled all those nights I spent hours and hours trying different Geek's T-shirts with all my hoodies to look just fine for Isaac, I sighed to the thought of it and my heart hurt but just a little, it have been months since Isaac and it seemed like the pain was already fading and then I asked myself? Why they pain wasn't as hard as it have been in the beginning? Did that mean that I didn't love him anymore? Did that mean that my feelings for him weren't real? Maybe I just thought I loved him, maybe it was the vengeance feeling in my belly what pushed everything away and of course Derek, I can't just forget about mentioning Derek, because I know that even when all I did was lay on my bed and feel like crap if it wasn't for Derek I could have ended in a worst place maybe even hurt myself again or even worse.

It was straight Stiles's night, which meant I was wearing tighter jean pants a short T-shirt with the pic of two girls kissing and my leather samet again, yeah I know what you're thinking but I couldn't help it every time I thought about going out with something above I felt naked, exposed, I couldn't afford to show lack of confidence Stiles in front of Kyle or else I was going to fail. It wasn't easy, I tried, I really did but every time I stood in front of my dresser's mirror and looked at myself with my naked arms, my slender limbs and slim chest my not interesting features or my insanely fat lips I just… I just had to look away it was too much to bear, I knew something was wrong with me, I should like the way I looked because I wasn't a swamps' monster or anything else…but…but I wasn't handsome either and it is hard to feel comfortable with your body when you're surrounded of hot people, like Jim who looked awesome with everything he wore, it didn't matter how scrawny he was, or Cass, Tim and Hip who spent more hours at gym that actually sleeping and got those amazing bodies, people like them, like Kyle and Jack like Isaac and now even Derek remind me every second that I wasn't enough for anyone and probably wouldn't ever be.

"Hey you look good" Derek said at my back while I stared at my reflection in the mirror with disappointment.

"Don't lie" I said rolling my eyes.

"I mean it" Derek said convincingly, well it seemed like he finally forgot the whole script writing course incident. "Doesn't he look fine" He asked and I turned.

Allison who was coming in behind him nodded "Actually he looks kinda of hot"

My cheeks burned and I looked down embarrassed though I knew it was all a lie, they were just trying to make me feel happy with myself but it didn't work, I knew the awful truth deep inside, the Same they knew for sure.

"Are you going out tonight?" Allison asked while she threw herself on Derek's bed and tugged a magazine out of her bag.

I nodded.

"You're going out a lot lately" She pointed out with her eyes on her reading.

"I know I'm just trying a…" I started but Derek didn't let me finish.

"Are you going to the club tonight?" He said with his crest furrowed.

"No I'm…" I stopped short, crap I forgot they didn't know anything about my plan "I mean yes, I'm meeting the guys in the club tonight"

"Good! Is time for you to use your dick more than for jerking off?" Allison chuckled and I glared at her.

"I'm not looking, we're just going…"

"Wait a second…" Derek said thoughtful "Today is Saturday"

"So?" Allison arched a brow still flipping the pages of her magazine absently.

"Hello? The thing in the woods?" He reminded me.

_The thing in the…_ Oh! I forgot! The season just started and that night aired a new episode.

"Well, I think I can't make it at time" I admitted with some disappointment in my voice "I'll record and watch it later"

"What?" Derek said skeptically "We never miss an episode"

I left the mirror and went next to his bed to get some hair spray to make my hair look spiky.

"Is not a big deal I can't watch it later" I pointed out not getting the whole thing.

"Yeah, let him get out, _everybody_ should have sex once in a while"

I rolled my eyes "Oh god! For thousandth time I'm not going out to have…" _Wait a second… does you mean that guys…_

"Is not that!" Derek said a little upset "You're not getting the whole thing, you never missed an episode not even after you went through all that Isaac crap"

In that moment… that brief second when Derek's words came though my ears I understood what he meant, he was right! I was…

"You're different" He said in almost accusatory voice.

"No… I'm not" I... lied?

"Look, I just need some time with the betches, hang out talk about our things, that's all"

Derek approached me and took me by the chin to take a closer look in my eyes, I avoided meeting his eyes, I felt uncomfortable it was almost like if they were trying to read my thoughts.

"You're hiding something" Said then.

"I'm not" I chuckled "I'm just going out, I'll see guys later" I said shoving my hand's in his pants to take his car's keys.

"My keys!"

"Take it easy, we're not going out tonight either way" Allison said getting out of the bed.

"We're not?" Derek said shocked.

"No, we're staying at home so you can watch you're stupid show and leave Stiles have fun" She mocked.

I snickered and ran to the door, getting Derek's keys was a good idea, that way I didn't have to walk or take the train and Derek and Allison wouldn't follow me in case they got bored and changed their plans, so I closed the door at my back, zipped up my samet and shoved my hands in the pocket and walked to Derek's car with a smirk on my lips.

….

That Saturday's practice prolonged more than usual, but I didn't know anything about it I found out when I was heading the parking lot and got a glimpse of the team practicing in the playing field and I passed to say wave to Kyle who was shirtless and kicking the ball to an uneasy and frightened goalkeeper, maybe I should stay at least until I was sure Kyle was out of the playing field before heading to Abbey square,. In other hand Jim was sick of staying out of the game in the left corner of the field watching at the others while they played, now he felt a little more enthusiastic about the game and wanted to prove them that he was one of them and plus he was really pissed because of the invisible wall that suddenly materialized in the middle of Jack and him, they hadn't talk at all since Thursday's poker night, not even a hello in practice or anything else and it was upsetting because he was recording all those hours with the camera for no reason, because there was zero interaction between Jackson Woods and himself.

"Here! I'm free!" He yelled to Chad who was being persecuted by the Shirtless Morrison and Garret.

Chad didn't pay attention.

"Oh come on you damn midget! Pass the ball" He shouted over his lungs. The air came out of him taking with it bits of his endurance, he better do something awesome before he were out of strength or else he wouldn't be able to prove himself in front of this morons.

Garret took the ball from Chad and Jim cursed in his insides then an idea flashed his mind.

"Hey Garret!" He screamed front the other side of the field. "Here, I'm free"

The guy who was distracted trying to get away from Chad and Kyle passed the ball to him without thinking.

"Ha you sucker! I'm not on your team!" Jim cracked in laughs taking the ball and starting to dribble the ball as the rest followed him, included Garret who seemed pretty pissed.

Jack came out of nowhere; Jim laughed and tried to dribble past him but the bastard made a slide tackle, Jim tried to jump him and tangled with his own feet rolling over his head forward. Jack quickly stood up and snatched the ball passing it to Kyle who quickly scored the final goal.

Jim wiped the sweat from his forehead and rolled on his back to stood, again on top he looked at me watching from the lonely bleachers as I waved at Kyle. He went to the left side of the field where he left his bottle of water, opened and took a long sip, it felt so delicious on his dry mouth he took many gulps before closing it, it didn't matter how hot it was, it was perfect, he sprayed his hair a little with it and then came into the showers. He hurried to approach his locker and grab his stuffs to get into the car, his day was a massive failure in terms of interacting with Jack but it wasn't that bad either maybe he should go out to the club that night, meet the Betches and reconsider the whole strategy because even though it seemed pretty unbelievable he was doing something wrong with Jack though he didn't know what.

He was on his way out in the locker room when he noticed that he left the bottle of water near his locker, so he turned on his heels and made it into the lockers again.

"I know I just need some more time" He heard Jack's voice saying from the other side of the lockers while most of the team bathed.

"It has to be now, no one stands him" Chad pointed out.

What they were talking about?

"Yeah, I know the guy is a total dick, I can't stand him either but first I need someone to take his place, no one wants to join the team"

Jim's heart jumped on his chest, was he talking about…?

"He called me a midget and dump to Garret, that's not cool, you can't call dump people like Garret" Chad protested.

"Yeah, he just a childish spoiled guy, I promise I'm going to get rid of him as fast as I can, but first I need you guys to help me find a replacement" Jack agreed.

Get rid of him? Childish spoiled boy? Who the hell this moron though he was? After all what Jim did for him! Fuck! That was so unfair he couldn't believe this guy! He had to tell me, he had to! Jim forgot about the bottle of water and spun one more time.

….

Kyle has taking off his shoes on the grass while I waved him when a guy approached him, they chatted a little and then Kyle stood and jogged to me.

"Hey" He said a little surprised of watching in his practice.

"How was the practice?" I asked not really interested.

"You know I kicked some asses, the usual" He replied haughtily. "Are you going out tonight?" Frowned taking a look at me.

"Yeah, I need some spare time my classes are killing me" I lied.

"Oh come on! How hard can it be?" He snorted.

"To be as awesome as I am? You have no idea" I snickered "Do you have plans for tonight?"

He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but he stopped short and if wasn't until two seconds later that he replied "I'm… no, gotta a lot of paperwork to do, boring stuffs you know"

_You're a terrible liar_I thought as I pretended that I didn't notice his hesitation.

"See you then" I said and waved goodbye as a hurried to approach the parking lot and take Derek's car, all this lies and stuffs were making my night more interesting, why he didn't want to tell me about his plans? What was he hiding?

I got into the car and drove away from the campus, put on some Native's culture songs on the mp3 player and hummed along while I passed through the streets on my way to Abbey square.

In the avenue a got a glimpse of thousands of shining multicolor lights glinting ahead were Abbey square was supposed to be, there were tons of cars on my way so it was hard to me to find a parking place, I couldn't get a right sight of what was going on and what all those lights were doing in there, we were in almost April so it couldn't be Christmas lights decorating the trees in the square.

It wasn't until I came out of the car and made my way into Abbey square that I realize what was going on in there. A fair! The place was so crowded just because a fair, why was the fair in town anyway? It wasn't like we were in holydays or anything and Easter was still a couple of weeks away but yet there it was Tipodley's Carnival said the words in the long arch at the entrance. As far as I got inside the first thing that shocked me was the big haste of people inside, it was like being inside an anthill, I couldn't walk into nowhere without being absently pushed by somebody and many of them were pretty rude if you weren't ready to move and wanted to take a look around, you just couldn't it was mayhem of sounds, colors, giggles, and smells, right where I was standing I could get the scent of cotton candy, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and toffee apples. I managed to get away from the crowd and found a breathing shelter next to the Pluck-a-duck's game tent, there were a couple of kids with their parents hoping they could win the absurd game to get a stuffed animal. I rolled my eyes and looked around now that I could finally stay standing still without being accidentally raped by an old man or crushed by an insane thong.

In front of the pluck-a-duck were at least another fifteen tents with all kind of games like knock-down-the-cans, water-gun-game or the bucket game, though it was hard to tell what others game were in there considering the river of bumping heads coming and going from all directions. The east side was just for food, there were at least another thirty tents offering all kind of things, including sushi _Eugh_. With all that madness it was going to be almost impossible to find Kyle in there, so my only option was to wait for him in the entrance. And so I did, it was the most boring but safer plan I could come up with, it was simple, Kyle was coming to the fair alone for some weird reason so I had to be ready to bump with him accidentally like that time in the pizzeria or in the rave just a week ago, if I wanted it to work I had to be alert and check up every person who came through the entrance, and it was a long wait, it took me near an hour to finally find him coming in, well actually I didn't see him, I saw his hair, don't ask me how but I just got a glimpse of his straw hair and something shuddered inside me, like beeping alarm that jolted right when I saw those spiky locks.

I ran as fast as I could before I lost him in the crowd and lost my chance to figure out what the hell was he doing in there and why he had to lie about it. I pushed so many people that I thought I could have established a new Guinness record with all of those who actually fell on the ground on my wake, I just hope none of them came after me. Kyle finally stopped before the cotton candy guy and I saw him asking for one, I took my chance and stood there back to him and then stepped back to bump our backs as it happened before and voila! When my samet met his shirt back and quickly turned pretending to be really pissed.

"Don't you see where you're going you asshole?" I grunted fighting back my laughs. Oh I was such a good actor, not like him!

"Are you kidding me?" He roared and then turned and our eyes meet "Stiles!' He said shocked.

"Hey!" I said _excited_. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the Same!" He chortled "Since when you Mr. Cranky pants likes these places?"

Mr. Cranky? Really? Me? He got to be kidding.

"What? I love fairs and I'm not a cranky whatever" I rolled my eyes.

"Relax don't you want to scare all these people with your wrinkled brow"

"Me?" I chuckled. "Are you seriously saying that? Mr. constipated face?"

He laughed once more and put a hand on my shoulder.

"So…" I wondered. "Didn't you have a lot of homework or whatever?"

He hesitated like earlier that day and then frowned "Yeah, but I heard about the fair and come on! Its Saturday night I couldn't spend it studying right?"

"Right" I agreed with suspicious look.

"Isn't that weird? We always bump with each other wherever we go, I might start believing that you're following me or something"

I snorted "Actually I am, I've been following you all this time because I got a big crush on you" I said sternly.

Kyle stopped short and fixed his eyes on mind with some dread on them, then he let out a loud chortle and punched me in the arm brotherly just like… just like Isaac used to.

"Are you leaving, or wanna hang out a while?" He asked.

I shook my head "Actually I just got in, and I was about to…" I looked around. "To get in the rollercoaster"

"Great! Let's go together" He suggested.

We made our way in the crowd and got there, we got to wait at least fifteen minutes in a long line but when it finally was our chance it worth it, we made bet right when we got up, whoever puked after the rollercoaster was going to get the tickets for the rest of the games, ha! That dump boy thought I was loser, actually I loved the rollercoaster and most of the amusement rides, it was piece of cake. We screamed our lungs out as the breeze disheveled our hairs and we choked with adrenaline and zest for life, the colors the sound of the cart on the track the usual frightened feeling when it reached the highest point and suddenly stopped making our stomachs to plunge down as we were thrown at high speed watching the world spinning around us, it was one of the most amazing feelings in the world.

I didn't puke, and surprisingly he didn't either, so it at the end we just agreed to split the cost of the tickets and get into all kind of random stuffs that we got in our way, we got into the cliffhanger, top spin, the tornado, fireball, free-fall, the hurricane, the UFO and the zipper, the games were great and Kyle and I were having such a great time, what wasn't that good was to wait that long to get into the rides so at nine pm or so we decided to go into the only game where you didn't have to make a line, the Ferris wheel, and since it was a quiet game I could have a chance to eat my corndog without throwing up over everybody.

We approached the gigantic colorful circle with its bright lights fastened to all the structure and the chairs, the carnie in the bottom of the wheel asked me for the tickets when I showed up, he was thirty one of or so, got a fat belly covered only by a vest and when he saw Kyle also a crooked smile that showed a pair of gold teeth that almost made want to throw my corndog away.

"Oh!" He said with a sissy voice "Are you going up with your boyfriend?" He said looking at both of us as if we were the funniest thing in the world.

I rolled my eyes, that's what I got for going to that stupid game with my stupid and scrawny teenager face and with that stupidly hot Kyle Saunders!

"Actually he is" Kyle replied in the Same tune. "We're going to do bad things up there, you have no idea of the places where I had done him and the things we do every night" He laughed "You should come with us" Added and then winked at him.

Kyle got into the chair and offered me his hand to join him, I was so shocked that it took me like five minutes to hit back the reality and actually take a sit with him and secure ourselves with the bar at the time the wheel started spinning.

The sky opened as we ascended, the tall building in front of us shrunk as higher as we got, now we could se more of the square and as the people quickly turned into colored ants that acted like feral animals, I looked up and the starts smiled I was near the top of the world the time went in slow motion and I felt in peace, people use to say that Ferris Wheel are magical, they have this mysterious power to make you feel big and tiny at the Same time, they make you realize how beautiful is the world that surrounds you and make recall all the wonderful memories hidden in your mind for me it felt like something more, being with Kyle that high after what he did downstairs, I just couldn't stop thinking about it, it was being with someone completely different.

"What?" He said when he noticed my rude stare.

"What was all that?" I said with a half grin.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"Oh come on Kyle! What happened with your broody attitude?"

He frowned.

"I'm not broody" He chuckled.

"Of course you are' I laughed.

"I'm not Stiles, I'm an actor I'm whoever I want to be whenever I need to and I'm a liar"

"So you're saying I shouldn't trust you?" I suggested.

"No, we are performers, we are all liars I just don't show up myself at full in front of people, it's like a game the of lies, you can't tell all the truth or else people might chance the way they look at you"

I felt a stitch in my chest, it made sense and was sad "So you're trying to tell me that you're not an asshole?" I burst in laughs.

"Exactly" He sniggered "Actually I think I'm a nice person"

I took a bite of my corndog and looked away, who was this guy? Was he a real actor for real? Could he really play with me that way that I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't? Could he really be a jackass sometimes and a nice person at the Same time? Did that really existed?

I swallowed and smiled, he was a jerk and there wasn't a way he could convince of the contrary, he was a jerk and… I found that touching.

"So, filmmaking uh?" Started after a long pause.

I frowned "So what?"

"Why filmmaking? Don't get me wrong, I know you're especial and everything else, I just don't get how do you figured out what did you wanted to do with your life"

I took a minute to think, it was a hella of a question and then I chugged "I don't know, I just wanted to prove them that I was worthy"

"Who?" He said confused.

"I don't know my parents, the people at school, my friends and I" I took a time to think about it, it wasn't something I asked myself before but even though inside me I knew the answer. "I just wanted to be especial, no… I knew deep inside that I was born for doing great things, I want the world to see through my eyes, to learn about every kind of topic, racism, feminism and every important thing in the world, I wanted to make and stand for myself and the rest of the underdogs in the world, I was just sick of you know… the people who bullied at school, I was tired of them making me feel like crap, hating myself and it was just a game for them"

"Wow" He said amazed as a cold draft slightly waved his hair.

I felt my cheeks burning.

"I want someday that those Same guys, those people, go to the theater to watch one of my movies, to say hey! I knew that guy I used to make his life miserable and now look at him! He is awesome! I wish I could have been nicer to him!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean" He affirmed, "You don't need to prove anything to anyone, you're awesome Stiles you a vision and I'm sure you're going chance the world somehow someday"

Oh my god! Those words… his words, they were so beautiful, my hear skipped a beat, they were so genuine with not even a drop of sarcasm he really believed in me, he really did.

"Why you lie to me about your plans tonight?" I asked and then felt like crap, oh my god I was acting like a crazy girlfriend or something! How EMBARRASING!

"I didn't, I mean, it's complicated I wanted to come here alone actually"

"I can go if you want" I suggested.

"No! I'm having a great time" He hurried to reply "It's just that, this kind of places, remind of me my little brother, we used to go to a lot of carnivals"

"Oh" I said fearing the worst, "Where is he now?"

"At home, I haven't see him in a while, and…" He chuckled while he made a pause "I'm now it silly, but he's just eight but I feel like he is my best friend and when I moved here, I felt so scared and alone and I thought a lot about him and every time a fair comes to town I just come here and for brief second I'm there holding his hand while we get in the teacups"

Oh my god! That was so… I won't say it, but you know what I mean.

That night, was an outstanding night, it wasn't like anything I could have imagined, I was so happy I missed that night's the thing in the woods' episode, it totally worth it, the time I spent with Kyle made me realize so many things, first of all that we are all performers in life, we are actors we have our strengths and debilities and we don't need to feel uncomfortable about our flaws or weaknesses, we should instead embrace them feel proud of them the Same way he was about his little brother, for once second while he was telling all that story I felt jealous, for a second I didn't want to be the brat only child and wanted someone with who I could share life and I could take care of that Same way he did with his little brother, Kyle was a good boy, he was a nice guy and now I realized how wrong I was about the horrible human beings project, I needed to find someone else to put in practice my plan, I couldn't do that to Kyle, not him, not after the way opened himself with me.

I drove Kyle to the pizzeria because he got the night shift that day and then went into the campus. I parked Derek's car and came out and then walked happily to my dorm though I knew I had to hide my smile before I got inside or else Derek and Allison were start to make questions. When I opened the door the lights were off and found Allison, Derek and Jim? Crouched on Derek's bed staring at Derek's laptop's screen.

"What are you doing?" I asked and they three let out a high pitched cry.

"Stiles!" Allison shouted "Are you insane?" She said breathing heavily.

I chuckled "What's going on?"

"We're watching a horror movie" She replied sharply and I cracked in laughs, oh I couldn't believe they really were afraid of those craps.

"Finally!" Jim said standing up and carrying my laptop from my bed "We need to talk betch" He said and then shoved me out.

"Wait" Derek was saying at our backs but Jim didn't pay attention and kept pushing me out of the room.

"Jim what's…?" I started.

"I called you thousands of times" He said angrily.

I shoved my hands and tugged my phone and god! Got at least forty missing calls from him, now I got why he was so mad at me "Okay are you going to tell me now what's…?"

"Not here" He replied and then I realized he was still wearing his soccer's uniform, was he awaiting for me since the practice?

He guided me as far of anyone as possible, walking randomly in silence for the campus until we stopped below an oak and then he ordered me to sit and opened the laptop for me, told me about his poker night that Thursday and then showed me the video of that day's practice and then the audio of the conversation Jack had with that guy about him.

"Oh" I said a little shocked after watching the video and then I snickered.

"Turns out that your guy doesn't like at all" I laughed, okay call me cruel and whatever you want but let's face it Jim was a B-I-T-C-H and I couldn't help finding hilarious all that situation, "Take it easy Jim, just you have to change your attitude in the next practices and then he will like you better"

"I'm not going back there! I'm out of this shit" He grunted furious, his cheeks were red with anger.

"Oh come on Jim, it's not such a big deal it is…"

"I'm serious bitch I don't want anything to do anymore with his shitty project"

"But we just started!" I protested.

"Hey what are you doing here?" A voice said at our backs and we turned.

Hip was standing back us with his crest furrowed.

"Nothing just talking about Jim's boyfriend" I mocked.

"Oh! You think it's funny" Jim said sharply "Well let's see how funny you think it is now!"

He bent before the laptop and clicked the play button again, well it turns out that the video didn't end with Jack ranting about Jim. After hearing that Jim came out of the locker room and found Kyle in the ground next to a guy as he took off his shoes in the grass, I saw myself in the bleachers at the other side of the field and then Jim approached them closer and we could hear what they were talking.

"No, he's waving at me" Kyle corrected the guy. "He's a friend"

"He looks like a loser" The guy chortled.

"He is a dump kid I got to work with a couple of weeks ago, he a tool, I need to do better in my classes and he knows a lot about movies and acting, I just need to convince him to help me without knowing he's actually doing it"

"It doesn't look hard, he looks pretty stupid" The guy pointed out craning his neck to look at me.

"He is" Kyle agreed and cracked in laughs then he stood and started walking toward me.

Jim stopped the video, I was gaping my eyes were so wide open that they could easily pop out of their sockets, I couldn't believe it, my blood was boiling in my veins, it was all a lie! He was liar! He told! He was an actor! A liar! And I was so dump I didn't see it, he was playing with me, all the things he said it was all fake, he was probably now laughing his ass out over me, thinking I ate all his shitty lies he was manipulating me! God! I was so stupid! I couldn't believe I really trusted him and though he was a nice person! I couldn't believe I really thought I liked that jackass! I was so angry, so mad! I didn't know who I hated most if him for what he did or Jim for showing me the truth!

"What was all that?" Hip said confused.

"Oh right! You have been absent for a week betch" Jim recalled and then started telling about everything what happened in our lives the last week.

"What were you by the way?" I asked.

"My mom was sick I got to take care of my brothers" He apologized "I'm sorry I lost all the fun"

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah she's fine, it was just a hard flu" He replied rolling his eyes.

"What were you doing around anyway?" I frowned.

"I came to show you something, but you got to promise this won't be in the final cut!" He said sternly.

"What are you talking about betch?" Jim said thrilled.

Hip thrust his hands on his shirt's pocket and tugged a tiny memory that he gave to me, I hesitantly got it in my hands. It was his video! The video of what he did in the rave! I opened the folder that popped in the screen and clicked the only video in the camera.

It was the Same scene, the rave. Hip sweep around a little checking up the faces. I hit the forward button and didn't click play until Hip stopped and remained still for a while, and then it was when we saw him. That black boy with the piercing on his brow.

"Gabe!" Jim said shocked.

Five minutes or so… the music bursting in the background, the lights spinning and blinding everyone but there he was, as I said five minutes, it only took five minutes to Hip to address him and then talk.

"Hey" Hip said.

"'S up?" Gabe replied looking at Hip suspiciously.

"Wanna fuck?" Hip said.

Jim spurted in laughs when we heard Hip's voice saying those words, but then he gapped as we saw Hip mixing into the crowd and then coming out of the storehouse. He stopped walking in the left side of the compound in a dull lighted alley, when he turned we saw that Gabe was following him, suddenly the black skinned guy knelt and the camera bent aiming to the floor where we could see Gabe's crown as he unzipped Hip's pants.

Okay we weren't going to see the rest, but hell! That was pretty intense, what the fuck got Hip that made him so irresistible?

"What son of the bitch, I knew he was gay!" Jim roared.

"Hey chill out" I said. "Don't you get? The project is a success, the project is a success"

And I was right! Our project was a success and then I heard Kyle's voice in my head telling me that he was an actor, that he was a liar and then I realized that we are all liars, that we never show up our true colors, it was then when I understood that I had been doing everything wrong, I was doing the Same I did always, I almost slipped and fell for Kyle, but thanks to Jim I got my mistakes and came back to the right rail, Kyle though he was playing with me, how wrong he was! I was going to destroy him and all the guys like him, when our project were over all the sexually ambiguous-confused guys in the world would bent their knees to us, I was ready to play their game, I was going to become a good actor and I was going to say so many lies that at the end Kyle was going to fall and there was going to be no turning back for him, I was ready, I was determinate and I was unstoppable, but first… We needed a plan.


	5. Chapter 5

Matty pressed the record button and I sat in a stool, folded my hands over my lap and stared straight at the camera.

"Every year, nine out of ten gay teens in schools suffer from bulling because of their sexual orientation, thirty percent of them commit suicide because of their situation, because they are being mistreated, abused and threatened. They give up and chose the easiest way out they find. The lucky ones just live in fear, they live scared" I started. "But also there are boys…"

"That aren't very clear about who they are" Liam continued.

"They are kind" Freddy smiled.

"They are funny" Tim added.

"They are the best friends anyone could have" Cass spilled and then his look changed as scripted.

"They are fliters" I pointed out with stern eyes, "The world loves them and they love being loved. They are players. They sweep everything on hand, they think they own the world"

"But everything changes" Liam said drily.

"When they meet a gay guy" Matty hopped quickly before me as he said those words and flashed a toying smile toward the camera.

I stared back at the lens and this time I rose a picture I printed from Isaac's profile's that I held between my index and middle finger. "This is Isaac" I started.

"Last year I met this handsome and funny guy who made me look starts and believe I could someday reach the moon"

Jim snorted in the back of the room.

"Cut!" I gasped rolling my eyes. "What is your problem Jimmy?" I said angrily, I was still mad at him for giving up.

"All this sounds so surreal" He grinned and I ignored him.

Hip hit the record button again and I continued telling the Isaac's story and how he ruined my life.

"They make you believe they need you" Cass continued with the story when I finished. "They tell you how important you are for them, they take everything that matters in your life and make it theirs"

"Then they get confused" Tim gasped. "They see in you the things they wished a girl could have, your thrust, your understanding, your capability to actually listen to their problems and matter about them"

"They hate you for being what you are" Freddy admitted with a sad look. "And deep inside they hate themselves for believing that they might be like you"

"They hide their feelings for you the same way you try to keep yours buried inside your chest" Liam added.

It was my turn again "When they can't hold the pressure anymore they leave, they say they are not like you, they look at you with hatred and then make you cruel pranks just to prove themselves that they are right"

"That's what they did to me"

"And me"

"And me"

"And me"

"And me"

"And me"

"Yeah me too" Jim said rolling his eyes when I pointed at him with the camera.

"That's what they do to all the gays around the world"

"Curious" Liam said wryly.

"Hetero-flexible" Matt continued.

"Confused" Freddy added.

"Flirters" Cass rolled his eyes at the camera.

"Players" Tim said with a slight grin.

"I call them horrible human beings" I finished. "But the important thing is that we're going expose them to the world, we're going to end with their reign of terror, I know we can't stop the victims of bulling from committing suicide but if our project shows them that they are not alone maybe we can drop their numbers a little, and set them free"

Matt turned off the camera.

"That's all?" Jim asked with disappointment.

"I know it needs to be polished, I just don't have any more ideas for now" I pointed out with gritted teeth "What are you doing here anyway? If you're not going to help why you did come?"

"And miss all the fun? No way" He scoffed.

I swallowed what I was planning to say and went back to the rest of the betches. This time holding a picture of Jack's face printed in a whole sheet of paper. I fastened to the board next to my bed with a pin and quickly glanced at Jim with a lopsided grin on my face.

"Here!" I commanded authoritatively aiming at the picture with a pointer. "This is the enemy"

"Isn't that the guy who broke Jimmy's heart?" Hip sniggered, Jim shifted on his place.

"I don't mean Jack exactly" I explained "I'm talking about his kind" Pointed out. "The triple threats"

"Triple threats?" Tim arched a brow.

"Smart, funny shockingly handsome" Liam said rolling his eyes.

"Thank you" I chortled and continued with my speech.

"First of all we must settle some rules about behavior among them" Started placing the tip of the pointer right on Jack's sparkling eyes.

"First of all avoid the eye contact, it gives them power over you because you won't be able to stop staring and it might expose yourselves before its time"

Cass and Tim nodded, it was just then and I now, Hip wouldn't have those problems ever, not with his flirting super powers and Jim… well as you know that betch was a traitor now.

"Now" I went to his lips. "Avoid staring at his lips" This was a basic thing actually, we needed to be their friends and nothing more, thought we have the problem that they were hot as hell and we couldn't afford to fall in their game.

"Now, elemental things…."

"Act straight" Freddy started snatching the marker from my hand and writing it in the board"

"Don't trust in them" Liam added writing it down too.

"What else?" I suggested dangling the marker before Tim's face.

"Gain their trust?" He said not convinced of his words.

"Exactly, but how are we going to do that?"

He hesitated a little and then Cass took the marker and went to the board. "By making nice things for them"

"That's right" I agreed with him and made a pause to make a larger explanation. "There are certain things that help to make them feel drawn to us, and one of those things is our intrinsic need to solve their problems a quality to comes afloat because of our feelings for them, now… we don't have real feelings for them, so we will have to pay close attention to everything they do to understand their needs so we can figure out how we can help to gain their thrust and start messing up with their minds"

All of them stared at me shocked.

"You're sick" Tim said openmouthed and them everyone cracked in laughs.

"I'm serious, it is a common thing among us. We use to do it selflessly because of our feelings for those jackass, now we need to pretend we care, we need them to believe that we are the greatest person they have ever met. And this …" I clumsily drawn a circle with the red marker around that issue. "Is our task for now on, we need to do something for them! An important thing that would change the way they look at us"

"Like what?" Freddy said curious.

"It must be something meaningful for them, I don't know like helping them with their classes or getting an autograph of their favorite author or something like it"

"They are too stupid for reading" Jim scoffed in the back of the room again and I just pretended he wasn't there, he was here just to make fun of us because of the plan, a plan he was part of in the beginning I was so mad of him for being such drama queen, he couldn't stand the idea of Jack don't liking him and he had to screw everything up.

"Right after gaining their trust we need to vanish" I said writing it down in the board. "We will make them crave for our attention, right after making them see how cool and nice we can be we will be out of their lives"

"That's all" Tim frowned. "We just leave?"

"We're not going to actually leave, we're just going to be out of their lives for couple of days, no phone calls no emails not contact with them at all"

"Why?" Cass said confused.

"Because it is a game" Liam pursed his glistening lips in a little smile as his eyes shone with recognition. He was getting my point.

"What happened back when we were with those guys? Do you remember how it was when they left with no explanation and didn't answer their phone or anything else?"

"I went crazy thinking all kind of things, trying to look for an explanation" Freddy sighed with a funny look on his face.

I smiled. "We lost our minds, we thought they were mad at us and tried to figure out the reason to apologize with them, and later they came back as if nothing happened"

"Wait a minute…" Jim hissed with an eerie look on his eyes as he approached me. "You're planning to act like them?"

"It is a game Jimmy. A game they have never lose because we have always been too afraid to change the rules"

"So…are saying that you wanna act like them?" There was something in his eyes, the way he looked at me, he was feeling tempted I could see it I could almost taste the anticipation in the air, he was eager to take part in the plan again.

"Not fully, we will change certain things in our behavior, small details that will make a big difference in the end"

He folded his arms and sat on my bed with his eyes fixed on the board crowned by a crested brow.

"So we get lost a week and then come back as nothing happened and with an indefinite explanation, right?" Cass asked.

I nodded. "That's how we're going to mess with their minds, we will do this sporadically as the bond grows, every time coming up with more absurd excuses of where we have been"

"The more they care about us, the harder will be for them to not have us around" Tim understood flashing a bright grin.

"I like the way you think sweetie" Liam bowed at me.

I blushed.

"What is the next step?" Jim inquired relaying on his arm on my bed as he checked his phone.

"Girls" I said scribbling the word below the other issues.

"Girls?" The others said at once a little confused, well everyone but Matty who seemed to understand my point or maybe he was just picturing a part of boobs in his mind GROSS!.

"Yeah, they have girlfriends, well I'm not sure if the twins are still dating the same skanks from last year but I suspect that Kyle has a girl, I overheard him fighting with someone over the phone the other day"

"All right, girls" Tim stared at the word and bit his lower lip. "What are we going to do with them? Seduce them?"

"No way" I shook my head waving away the thought of me trying to flirt with Kelly. "We need to get them out of our way"

"How?"

"It is up to you guys actually, we need to find as much information about them as possible, see the flaws in their relationship and exploit them and here is where Liam's skills become handy"

"My skills?" Mr. Lipstick arched a brow at me.

"Oh come on Liam, I know it was you who hacked my Facebook's account last summer and wrote that I loved to eat snots on my wall" I glared at him.

He let out a nervous giggle and looked down.

"Liam will collect the information" I continued as I passed around my room imagining the process in my mind at high detail. "With the information on hand you will seek a way to destroy their relationship, gossips, lies, I don't know, what matters is that they must break up and at the Same time he must see all the good things in you that he can't find in her, understood?"

Tim and Cass nodded.

"Remember, they must think is themselves who are realizing that the things between them aren't working anymore, if you get involved directly it will be a waste of time."

"And by the moment they are heartbroken and upset the bond with us will be already big so…." Cass muttered.

"They will run straight to us" Tim finished for him.

All the betches craned their necks toward me. I smirked.

"Alright Jigsaw killer what's next?" Jim sniggered at me.

"Girlfriends" I snapped.

"Isn't it the same?" Freddy said furrowing his brow.

"No… we need girlfriends" I laughed "better if they are our friends because we will be jackass with them"

"What's the point of all that?" Cass asked.

"While we're sabotaging their relationship they will see we have a girl too so for now there won't be doubts about our sexual orientation, we will good boyfriends at the beginning but bit a bit we will be neglecting them, the guys need to notice the change and at the Same time we need to be working on ruining their lives, everything goes all together"

"It makes sense" They agreed.

"Anyone can guess which the next step is?" I said with a patronizing stare as if I was a teacher or something like it.

All the betches exchanged looks said some words to themselves, then Tim rose his hand.

"Come out" He said steady.

"That's right"

"Wait what?" Jim said detaching his eyes from his phone.

"What do you care anyway? You're too busing not being here" I protested.

"We will come out of the closet, in a surprisingly way. As you know when it happens we usually try to apologize for no reason with the guy, this time we will make it different, we will come out willingly and proud"

"Do you think it will work?" Cass didn't see much convinced.

"Yep" I grinned. "Because this time we won't run after them, we will just come out bravely and then we will go away again, it doesn't matter if the weeks past and they don't call you, it is part of the process you must be ready for waiting at least a month but what matters is to never look for them, it must be them who look for us… understood?"

They all nodded again.

"Liam we will need you often, we need to know where they are what they eat who are their friends, when they bath, what brand of shampoo, I don't care we need to find out everything about them to use it on our advantage"

"No problem" He grinned and his lips shone with the light of the bulb above his head.

"What will happen when they look for us?" Tim asked inquisitively.

"The relationship between the two of you will become awkward, don't push anything, be best person in the world I don't know feed the poor, adopt a kitten, help him with his homework, do whatever is necessary to prove him that you are better than him and that you don't care what he might think about you being gay"

"And what will happen then?" Cass scratched his chin.

"I don't know, it hadn't been done before" I replied biting my lip with embarrassment.

"You don't know how it will end?" Liam said scandalized.

"I don't know… we have to see how they react alright? If everything goes fine they will crumble, they will find refuge in us and all the videos will show the change in their attitude"

"So you think they might fall for us?" Tim looked at me confused.

I nodded. "But the important thing is that we can't fall for them, or else we're doomed"

"Take it easy guys, we will figure out what to do when the time comes" Cass smirked and I joined him.

I went to the drawer of my socks and tugged out the tiny box that came in the mail two days ago, I tucked the cameras in my palm and turned toward them.

"This" I said holding one of them between my thumb and my index finger. "Are new cameras, they record on high definition and have high fidelity sound, they are way too better than the junk I gave you before"

Matty and Cass approached me and took the miniscule spy cams on their hands and pinned them on their clothes, then Tim took one and did the Same, I turned on my heels and stared a Jim dangling the last one.

"What?" He said arching a brow.

"This one is for you" I placed it in the bed next to him.

"I told you betch I'm out" He replied stubbornly.

"Save it, in case you change your mind"

Then I tilted my head back to the rest of the guys and smiled. "Put cameras on your rooms, I'll do it in here too, for when I bring Kyle and Jack here"

"Jack?" Jim said at my back. "What you have to do with that dump boy?"

"He is the part of the project already, I can't let him go just because you're done with it" I snapped.

"I didn't know you could take care of two at the same time" He chuckled though I could feel the remorse in his tone.

"Are you jealous or something?"

"Oh betch please" He snorted.

"That's what I thought" I chortled and went back with the rest of the betches, maybe Jim was too lofty to admit that he was mad at me for suggesting messing with Jack too apart from Kyle. But I really thought it would be enough to bring him back in the project, but he was harder to convince than I expected, if he didn't changed his mind soon I was going to have a lot in mind and I couldn't help asking myself if I was going to be able to handle that much pressure. But it didn't matter, for the sake of the project I was ready to make whatever was necessary.

Next week I spent my classes trying to figure out a way to do something for Kyle to gain his utter trust, as I said to the betches it had to be something meaningful and deep to make them realize how good we were, but what did I have? I actually didn't know much about him, despite that he was in the acting program and he was in the soccer team and loved Native's Culture almost as much as I did. In other hand was the amusement park and his little brother but they could both be false as far as I knew and even if they weren't what was I going to do? Build him a park for him and his brother? No way. I had to be realistic, if I wanted to do something I needed to do some research first.

Derek jabbed me in the ribs at least twice in sound production that Thursday and still I kept getting lost in my thoughts with my eyes absently fixed in the board and not in my laptop as they should. I couldn't help it, I was a little mad. I got no news from Kyle since we accidentally met in the amusement park and it almost felt as if he was ignoring me. Of course I could had text him but… I didn't want to look desperate and it was frustrating. it was almost as if he was mad at me or something when I should be the one spitting fire out of my mouth, I mean, that asshole was using me remember? I should be picturing cruel ways of torture for him and not planning on giving him a VIP pass to Native's Culture next gig or something.

The answer to my dilemma came that Wednesday in the script writing course. That day I waited for Derek to go together, or else he would be so mad that I would probably end up sleeping in the hallway or something like it. It was a stressful wait, I wasn't sure what the hell was Derek doing that day after class but he got home pretty late all sweaty and agitated with a weird lopsided grin, we were late already and he came out with I need to take a bath first I rolled my eyes trying to not think of me thrusting my foot right up in his ass.

We ran through the corridors ten minutes after that days' meeting had officially started and in my mind came the memory of Derek suddenly bursting in in the middle of the speech about Shakespeare and I felt a cramp in my stomach it would be embarrassing to brake in that way. When we finally reached the conference room we came to halt and peered through the round windows in the double doors. As I imagined they already started, the same woman from the other Wednesday was again in the middle of the carpeted floor holding a ratty copy of what looked like a script for one of Shakespeare's play… so were still on the bard uh? It meant we weren't that late.

The woman kept talking and I could feel Derek's breathing in my neck making me feel anxious, I knew he wanted to come in before we lost any more time but it would disrespectful, considering how wrong it would be for him to interrupt for the second time in a row. I waited at least another ten minutes until the woman made a pause and went to the back of the room probably to get a copy of another play from the table at her back and I slowly opened the door, all the eyes went straight to us at once, The woman and I exchanged glances for a minute, my gust churned awkwardly while her eyes swept past me and focused on Derek at my back, her eyes flickered and then she nodded at me and I hastily jogged to the chairs. They were all taken. Kyle was in the Same spot where we took places last week but the chair next to him was occupied so I couldn't do anything more than wave at him and sweep the room with my eyes, I found a place empty in the third line and Derek got another in the fifth.

Now in our places the woman continued talking about Romeo and Juliet. Later she came with the idea of a practice session, according to her most of the time writers work under pressure, they have quite short time to come out with an awesome idea for a script and even when the movies are being shoot or the plays are being casted there tend to happen some script reconsideration that might change the essence of the story. So the idea was simple, we needed to write in our notebooks the first thing that came to our minds and make a scripted story of it. It should be an easy piece if it wasn't because I was too busy tilting my head occasionally toward Kyle to see what he was up to, the way he his brow was crested in his now famous constipated face while he stared at his notebook biting his bottom lip while he wrote. I went back to my own script and gasped. About what should I write? It could be about my best friend and what the hell he was up to, it was something that called my attention he was late to consecutive Wednesdays and he was agitated and sweaty, he didn't came from the gym, his training backpack was in the room while I waited for him so it had to be something else. I craned my neck toward Derek, he was occupied with his own script, I went back to mine and nothing, I got ideas… but the problem was that they were long and complicated and how much time left we got? Twenty minutes? It wouldn't be enough time for me to write something worthy or at least interesting.

"Pens down" Julia said with her hands on her back.

She started pacing around and looking at some of the scripts written by the attendants, at first she stopped before one of the Coders, a scrawny boy with red cheeks and large glasses, which was his name? I couldn't remember, he was the Coder's living wallpaper. Julia took his script in her hand and took a look at it. A grin flashed her grin and glanced down at my empty sheet, I just hopped she didn't came to me, it would be so embarrassing.

She cleared her throat. "Did anyone write about two lovers cursed by a forbidden love?" She asked with a condescending look on her face.

I quickly darted my eyes toward Kyle and watched him awkwardly rising his hand as he stared at the rest of the crowd openmouthed, I gaped too and chuckled in my insides, how basic human brain was. Most of them, including the whole Coder's clique were rising their hands with pride at first and then with disappointment.

"Don't feel bad, I did on purpose, I kept talking about Romeo and Juliet for this long to induce you to write about it. Usually we tend to write about the last thing in our minds. Our thoughts draw us to it even if try not to. Now here comes your real appointment, I want you to…"

She suddenly stopped and all the heads came to the last line of seats, curiously I shifted on my chair too and looked at Kyle who was on the phone. I couldn't hear well what was he talking because I was pretty long from him all I could get was.

"I'll be there in ten minutes" Said quickly cutting the call and picking up his stuffs.

"I'm sorry" Apologized staring at Julia.

"As I was saying" She continued. "I want you to go home, and write a full script. This time without the pressure of the time, think wisely about what you want to write about, use the techniques we talk about last Wednesday and don't feel afraid of what you might want to write, be yourselves, embrace it and you will see that it will worth the hard work in the end."

Everyone started standing when Kyle was already coming out at long strides, I took him by his sleeve when he was passing by next to me and he coked his head toward me and arched a brow and then snapped his head in realization "I'm sorry Stiles, can't stay, got some pizzas to deliver"

"What? What happened to the other guy?" I said confused.

"I'm not sure but they fired him"

"Oh…" I replied shocked "What a pity"

"A pity? I'm screwed, now I got to do his work too until they find someone new" He complained.

He padded me in the shoulder and strode off and then… the idea came to my mind, I got it… what I was looking for! The nice thing I needed to do for him to make him believe he could trust me! I was going to get him fired!

It was Thursday evening and I didn't know anything from Kyle. I was still figuring how I was going to get him fired, well not actually fired. I wanted to get him in trouble and be nearly fired to find a way to save him, but how? I just hoped he didn't hate his job or else or my work was going to be in vain. After class I decided to start working on my script. I still got all this ton of ideas that and the end didn't led me anywhere. Derek sat on his bed while I was still fighting the procrastination and opened his laptop.

I gazed up as he scowled and started writing in silence, was he working on his script already? Damn his fingers swept on the keys at high speed and made me feel anxious, stories was always my thing. I always helped him with the ideas for his at our classes but now… well I had a lot in mind, between Kyle, Jack and Jim and the horrible human beings project I just could focus even though I got some ideas.

After thirty minutes of wandering thoughts I decided to chance my strategy and decided to write according to what I wanted. I was good in character development, my professor always pointed out that, my characters' feelings and thoughts in my script always made my stories deep and entertaining so… I needed a main character who… whose attitude and mind changed completely from the beginning of the story to the end. Alright that was a beginning but what now?

I burned my nerve cells a little longer until the answer came… My main character was going to suffer a lot of realizations during the story but all of them were going to take him or her to hit bottom, it was an inverse process… but to do that it had to be a well centered person, who discovers a lot of shit about himself or herself… herself… a doctor… no… a psychiatrist. She was going to discover that she was insane! Great. The ideas started coming at torrents and before I realized I wrote down five scenes of the story but it was going to be a long story so it would take at least another fifty…

I heard a chuckle.

I glanced up and found Derek with his eyes still fixed on the screen of his laptop, his fleshy and pinky lips curved in a half-grin like a kid who just made something mischievous. About what was he writing? He looked like he was having a lot of fun. Suddenly he noticed my stared and looked back at me. It came back with my own script embarrassed and tried to focus again, though something stung me in the back of the neck, I felt uneasy and anxious. I wanted to know what the hell Derek was writing about though I didn't want to ask and make him believe I was trying to steal his ideas, yeah I know I was a little competitive even with Derek I just… couldn't help it.

He chuckled once more and I gave up, I couldn't concentrate… not with him making so much noise in the room and acting like dump just because of his script.

I closed my laptop and looked at the window at my back. It was a spring afternoon. Oh spring! The birds and the bees and the constant reminder that I was more virgin than a bunch of nuns. The sun was setting down flashing orange and coppery rays in the distant horizon, at that time the soccer Team was finishing their training session so… Kyle was there… and Jack too.

I put on my sneakers, fastened the camera on my shirt and left my room in long strides, the day was almost over which meant I didn't have much time to sneak into the playing field and address him. I darted through the campus at and steady pace, though I was already feeling the lack of air in my lungs and cursed in my insides for having so less stamina in my body I still I couldn't believe I got to outrun those guys the night of the rave.

When I made to the soccer field, the sun was almost completely gone, the lights were on, the bleachers lonely and the team already parting. I spotted Kyle wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel next to locker room's door. In the middle of the playing field was Jack talking to a dark skinned man while both stared to a sheet a paper and exchanged thoughts about it. I waited hidden behind the bleachers a couple of minutes until the man left and I came out of my stash to catch up Jack before he left home. I knew I was doing wrong right when my eyes and Jack's met. I mean, Jack was supposed to be Jim's target and not mine but now that Jim was out of the game I needed to do something, and yeah! It had nothing to do with the fact that Jack was HOT.

"Hey Jack!" I said casually waving my hand.

He tilted his head toward me with interest. He blinked twice and then his eyes flickered with recognition right when I stopped before him and shook hands with him.

"You're the movies director right?" He said with that breathtaking smile.

I struggled to not sigh like a high school girl and just nodded.

"I'm Stiles"

"Stiles! I remember" He grinned again.

CRAP!

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked furrowing his brow.

Oh shit! Good question! I didn't know what the hell I was doing there. I mean, I went to see him to do something, to not lose his track but now… I didn't think about what I was going to do then. Luckily the answer came to my mind in matter of seconds.

"Remember what I told you about the script I was writing?"

"About the soccer team? Yeah" He nodded.

"I'm having a hard time with some terms. See, I don't know much about the game and I want it to be as realistic as possible"

He chuckled. I died.

"I think I can help"

He led me to the bleachers and we both sat next to each other while bit a bit the rest of the team left the playing field. Oh god! I was almost alone with Jackson Whittemore in a spring night, it was like a dream came true.

Well it wasn't exactly like a dream, we were talking about soccer and I didn't know shit about soccer and he kept rambling in a weird slang I didn't have idea about. Quickly terms like clean sheet, derby and hattrick clouded my mind and made me feel dizzy but all I could do was nod. When Jack was explaining how to perform a good nutmeg I head steps and a shadow darkened my view of Jack's face. I craned my neck and found Kyle standing before us carrying a duffel bag on his shoulder.

"Stiles what are you doing here?" He said surprised of finding me there.

"Uh… I was just… asking Jack about some soccer terms" I explained feeling like I was just busted by the police buying crack or something.

"You could have asked me" He pointed out with a look on his eyes… an apex of odd light emerged from them like… was he jealous?

"I didn't want to bother, I know how busy you have been lately with your work" I pointed out and then came back to Jack who was already standing.

"I'm sorry Stiles, I have to go now but came whenever you want I we will continue" Jack apologized.

I looked down with disappointment and actually some relief "It's okay I'll come back other day"

Jack nodded with a grin and turned to leave.

I craned my neck toward Kyle whose face had still a slight hint of a scowl, I wanted to burst in laughs right in his face, he was mad of me of asking Jack advices instead of him! I'm Sorry I hurt your Macho Ego I though holding a sneer back.

"Have you seen James lately?" Kyle asked as he started pacing toward the exit next to me.

"James?" Jack voice said at my right.

Oh damn I forgot Kyle knew Jim and I were friends, and it was obvious that since Jim left the project it was just matter of time before he did the Same with the team.

"Do you know James Taylor?" Jack approached and looked at me suspiciously.

Oh my god! He was eager to know what the hell happened to Jimmy!

What the hell is wrong with you two?

"Is he sick? Hadn't come to practice the last week" Jack said a little preoccupied.

Oh my god! He was concerned about Jim! What the hell? Well it made sense, without Jim they were only ten and by law they needed eleven players… damn! How in the hell did I know that? Oh crap I was becoming one of them!

I shook my head. "I don't know" I faked a sorry face. "I don't know him that much, we just hanged out a couple of times" Lied.

Jack blinked twice and them his expression deflated with disappointment.

"I'm sorry I have to go, I got to work on my script" I lied again before Kyle opened his mouth and gave me off, though I still wasn't sure how did he know that Jim and I were friends.

I waved at them and hurried to run to the back of the bleachers, eavesdropped until the thump of their steps on the grass faded. Then I looked around and made sure I was alone before tugging out my phone and dialing Jim's phone number.

….

Jim cut the call and rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe I was so stubborn about getting him into the project. He knew I was just teasing him. He finished buttoning his shirt and came to the mirror to take a look at himself. It was poker night but now… he couldn't tell why he didn't feel like playing. He tugged his phone and texted Carlos apologizing. Later he changed back into his pajamas and sat before his computer. He knew I was right about Jack, after all he got this direct message in his Facebook account two nights ago. He read it twice right when he got it. It said "Are you okay buddy? Are you sick? Why hadn't you come to the practice?" And yeah it was from Jack.

Of course soon or later Jack would know that Jim had read the message already, because Facebook got that annoying feature now. But he didn't want to reply to him, he was still angry after hearing all those stuffs that Jack said that day in the locker room. He glanced down and stared at the camera I gave him the other day. It got a minuscule gleam on one side that came from the bulb behind Jim's head. He shook his head and stood to leave. When he was going to click the X in the chat square he accidentally pressed the mouse button on Jack's name and the page automatically took him to the Captain's profile. Now he could see that beaming smile that almost took the whole header of the profile. Jim took a minute to think what to do and then he sat back in his chair and started scrolling down the profile, there were many invitations to parties from all kind of people, there were also some game requests and few pictures. One called his attention and he clicked it, it was a picture of Jack with a kneeling on a white floor, at his back were a group of kids with ill countenances, most of them got their heads shaved. In the header of the photo read Community center for children with Cancer oh, poor kids! Was Jack a volunteer or something? It didn't matter it didn't change the fact that Jim was done with the soccer and Jack for good.

….

Those days were especially difficult for me, not because I got a lot of school work or anything. I was just… coming through a writer's block, I got the ideas well sort of but still the words didn't came. By Saturday I was already having a hard a time with it, I could feel Wednesday lurking in the corner and it mortified me, I wasn't used to have shortage of idea, actually it was quite the opposite, sometimes I got so many stuffs in my head that I could spend the whole sleepless night living in imaginary places, but now… God it was frustrating! And more frustrating was to hear Derek's time to time silly giggles as if he was writing the most hilarious story ever done. When I heard him snigger for the fifth time in the last hour I accidentally tsked and took a deep breath, almost instantly I felt his eyes on me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I glanced down and there was his stupid grin, was he mocking at me or something? Damn.

I nodded "Yeah, everything is cool here" He replied dryly though I'm pretty sure I was still scowling because them he arched a brow suspiciously.

"Oh come on!" He chortled "Do you really think you can lie to me? You're offending me"

Oh yeah Mr. Brilliant ass? Well let me tell you where you can shove that patronizing…

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing Derek okay?" I said sharply and shit I lost.

"See? I knew something was up? What happens? Are you having writing issues?"

"You are enjoining it, don't you?" I replied more harshly than I intended.

"Come on Stiles, do you really believe I can rejoice if you're having problems?"

I held my breath, I god he was right! How could think that wrong of him? "It isn't a big deal, it's just a stupid script"

"For you it's more than that and you know it" He grinned.

Oh crap that grin, he knew me better than anyone and yup! Now I was grinning too, he was right! I always got to do the perfect thing, for me it was always a challenge and I hated losing.

"What about you?" I asked hoping he could forget about my poor script.

"What about me?" He said not getting the point.

"What are you writing? It sounds like Aaron Seltzer's next big thing" I joked.

He glared at me.

"It's just a comedy, I'm not sure about it I just can't stop laughing with the funny ideas I get"

"Really?" I bit my bottom lip intrigued "Like what?"

"Do you remember that time when you ripped off your pants with the scalpel in Biology and Mr. Jensen sent you with you the nurse and then everybody in the hallways started taking pictures and it came out even in the school's newspaper?"

My face reddened, Oh damn I forgot that embarrassing day, I thought I was done with that humiliating day!

"You think that's funny? Do you have any idea of how embarrassed I felt?" I spat angrily and then something clicked in my head… He was writing about me, HE WAS WRITING ABOUT ME!

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I growled "You can't write about me!" I lumbered over him on his bed and snatched the laptop from his grasp as he tried to excuse himself.

"I'm not… writing about you, there were just some… funny things that I thought…"

Fuck his excuses, my whole awkward childhood was written in that text, what in the hell crossed his mind when he decided to write about that disturbing Biology class or when we were eating ice cream in the mall and mine fell from the second floor and landed on the head of a bald man and… wait, that was funny actually… or when he convinced ride or bikes in that race circuit and I ended having a mud cake in my face…. Well my face was hilarious that day… FUCK THAT! It was a violation to my privacy, I felt exposed!

"It isn't you" He tried to calm me down. "It just someone that resembles you a little" He explained with a soft and innocent grin that almost made me forget how mad I was.

I kept reading and alright! It was all about ME, I wasn't sure if I should have felt betrayed or flattered, but the thing is that it was genius, yeah most of those things were terrible memories for me, but Derek managed to make them look funny and actually I couldn't help laughing my ass out at least seven times and it was just an small draft, there was still a lot to be written. –The hell that I knew that- but I wasn't still sure if I was going to let him present it after all.

"I could sue you" I joked when I handled him his laptop back.

He rolled his eyes with a funny look on his face. "Okay, let me see yours now" He asked and went to my bed.

I jumped over him before got a change to dig his claws on my computer "It's not ready" I said uneasy.

"It's okay, I'm just curious about what are you doing" He replied with greedy eyes "I'm been watching all this time, I wanna know now"

Really?

"Okay" I gave up and let him read the script.

Derek spend twenty minutes reading the poor twelve pages I got to write since Thursday, I couldn't tell his thoughts while he read, he got his brushy brows wrinkled and his electric blue eyes fixed that didn't tease of what was going through his mind at all.

When he finished he whistled, was that good?

"I like the concept, but the story is still in a primitive stage" Said with that self-sufficient and annoying voice I hated so much.

"I know, that's why I didn't want you to see it just yet"

"Do you have an idea of what do you want to do with your main character in the end?"

"I want her realize that she is crazy"

He scratched his head thoughtful, even something as common as that seemed pretty different now that his arms were as big as balloons.

"What about adding some paranormal things?"

I scoffed "Oh yeah?" I said sarcastically.

"I mean it, make her believe that she is see feeling weird things, that something is wrong around her when it actually is happening inside of her mind… and… at the end…."

"Make her realize that it was all her fault that she became insane because of something awful that she did" I finished for him realizing that it was actually a hell of a good idea.

"Oh my god Derek thank you" I said grateful. "When you started having those awesome ideas?"

"I learned from the best" He smirked and my heart stopped short, Oh god! Derek could be so cute sometimes.

I smiled too and went back to my bed, for a second I forgot about Kyle and that I needed to do something to get him fired, I didn't care, because I got a lot to write and I couldn't wait to it, everything else could wait.

….

It was Tuesday afternoon, Jim came out of the car and glanced the entrance of the odontology clinic near his home, he was kind of bored and it was time for a check out so he decided to come. On normal circumstances he would have gone to Janet's clinic, she was an intimate friend of his mom and she was a pretty cool woman, but her clinic was at the other side of the city to be more specific near Oakwood and Jim wasn't in the mood to ride all the way there. He opened the door and went to the receptionist, she was a tall young woman near her thirties who checked his name in the system and asked him to wait for his turn in the waiting room. He sat on an uncomfortable chair in front of her, at his side a pair of old ladies were chatting about all the pains they got because of their age. Jim snatched a magazine from the table at his left and opened while he read he turned on the music on his phone and laid his back against the wall. The door opened and by the corner of his eyes he could see two figures striding toward the receptionist one of them being dragged by the other. He focused in the fashion magazine and then shoved his hands on his pocket, he tugged the camera I gave him and took a look at it. He couldn't believe he actually considered to apply in Oakwood, what was coming through his mind then? He wasn't sure. The song he was listening ended and through the muffling material of his earphones he got to hear an arguing just in front of him. The two persons that got after him were still before the counter, he heard a high pitched cry and looked up.

"No! I don't want to get in" Sobbed a girl's voice.

"You need it, please calm down" Tried to shush the yelps a familiar voice.

Jims' heart leapt, he looked up automatically and even though the boy was back to him Jim recognized him. It was Jack.

"I'm sorry but we can't attend her"

"Please, she is in pain" Jack's voice begged. "I promise she will calm down"

"I'm sorry Sr. it is not up to me" The receptionist said embarrassed.

Then Jim got a bit of the muttering the ladies were having at his right.

"I think she is"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, I can see the side of her face from here"

What were they talking about?

Jim fixed his eyes back to Jack and the girl that desperately tried to break free from his grasp while she sobbed.

"When I called this morning you said you would attend her" Jack reproached with indignation.

"Maybe if you get her to calm down!" The receptionist yelled above the cries of the girl that still tried to let go.

Jim stood and addressed them. He was still behind Jack but now he could get a better look of the girl whose wrist he was holding tight. She got blond hair up to her shoulders, round face, flat nose and mouth, a flat nasal bridge and slanted eyes upward and outwards. She got Down syndrome.

"We got to take the train all the way here!" Jack said angrily, even when he was angry he somehow managed to sound nice, it was kind of funny actually.

The girl stopped crying and stared at Jim suspiciously.

"I'm sorry Sr."

"What's going on?" Jim asked casually.

Jack turned on his heels. "James!" He said shocked "What are you doing here?"

"Buying a ticket for a cruise, what do you think?" He replied harshly.

The girl started crying again.

"Annie calm down" Jack begged.

"I'm sorry but I'm have to ask you to leave" The receptionist said dully.

Something bitter scorched the back of the Jim's throat. "You're saying she can't come here because of her condition?" He snapped glaring at the woman. He could hear more whispers at his back.

"That's… not, I didn't mean" The woman tried to excuse herself.

"I want to go to the arcade Jack, you promised we would go to the arcade"

"Later Annie" Jack said with frustration in his voice.

A door opened at their left and a woman in a medical gown showed up her face through the gap in the door "Is something wrong Gwen?"

The receptionist went pale as the wall behind her "No ma'am"

"Actually there is a problem" Jim grunted "This woman here, doesn't want to book my friend because of her condition"

"What? I'm sorry…" The doctor started embarrassed.

"That's not true, I was just…"

"She asked us to leave" Jack added.

The woman came out and approached them with wide eyes, "I'm so sorry for this misunderstanding" She apologized. "Gwen please guide Miss..?

"Whittemore"

"Miss to my office while I…"

"Don't worry we are leaving" Jim spat with despise though he wasn't sure if Jack would follow him. What the heck was he doing?"

As he came out of the clinic he pinned the camera to his shirt, still not sure of why. When he turned on his heels Jack and Annie were right behind him.

"So… you're Annie?" He asked causally.

The girl glanced at him warily and then nodded.

"And you like arcades?" He continued.

She nodded again.

"That's great, because I wanted to go right now and… I don't wanna go alone Annie, would you play with me?" He asked grinning.

"We can't we have to find a…" Jack started.

Jim rose his hand to shut him.

"Can we go Jack?" Annie asked with sparkling eyes. "Please!"

"Annie we have to…"

Jim turned to him and made him signs with his eyes.

"Alright" The soccer captain gave up with a sigh.

"Great!" She shouted with excitement.

Jim guided them to his car and they got in, while Annie was fastening her seatbelt in the back Jack scowled.

"I have a friend who can help" Jim muttered and turned on the engine.

"Annie do you like Katy Perry?" He suggested.

"Are you kidding? I love her!" Annie replied from the backseat, Jim chuckled and hit the play button of the stereo to not listen to Jack's complains about him taking them to the nearest arcade on the GPS.

There was place near Janet's clinic at the other side of the city so Jim though it was perfect for them, they came out of the car and went straight to the games. Annie and him took a pair of plastic gunshots and started to kill zombies inside the crowded Arcade while Jack kept saying that Annie shouldn't play those games. While they played Annie and Jim talked a little, She was Jack's little sister, she was thirteen and got a cavity in one of her tooth, she didn't want to go to the doctor because they were all creepy like the zombies they were killing. She liked Katy Perry and hated Lady Gaga and Jim couldn't laugh enough which was pretty bad because he closed his eyes and she somehow scored twice the amount of zombies than him in matter of seconds, she loved Harry Potter and watching but she had to watch the movies in Brittany's home because her parents thought that he was evil.

After killing a bunch of zombies and winning a couple of bike rides Jim decided to take a break and bought her a milkshake.

"It's strawberry, how didn't know it was favorite?" She asked smiling joyful in the table they got.

"I'm a psychic" Jim chuckled staring at the strawberry earring she was wearing that matched her shoes material's pattern.

Jack snorted amused and Jim rolled his eyes.

"Hey Annie" Jim started thoughtful. "I was thinking… I need to visit a friend of mine right now and I thought that maybe you could go with me"

"Is she nice?" Annie frowned suspiciously.

"Of course" Jim affirmed "Actually, she used to play Zombie Rush with me when I was younger"

"You're lying!" She accused with a chortle. "The game isn't that old!"

"Are you saying I'm old?" He said pretending to be hurt. "You got me" Laughed.

"Anyway, do you think we could go there for a while?"

"Is she a doctor isn't she?" She pursed her lips and squinted.

Jim chewed his lower lip, _think betch, think!_ "Yeah, but she is a good one"

"How do you know?"

"She is my friend, she is nice and she is good to everybody, not like the hag from the other clinic"

"She can help you with the pain" Jack baited.

Annie starched her head while she looked to both of them thoughtful.

"Then we can go for some ice creams to get more rotten teeth" He sniggered.

"Okay" Annie gave up. "But you have to promise it won't hurt" She said with some mistrust in her voice.

"It won't" Jim affirmed nodding.

"Not even a bit" Jack agreed and then slurred a thank you to him.

….

So… Tuesday evening, my plan was ready and we were just about to execute it. I was in Tim's car with him and Liam. Since Tim got already made his good deed for his twin –don't ask me which, because I couldn't tell them apart- He agreed to help me with my idea. It was simple, as I told you before I was going to get Kyle fired from the pizza place. Well, not actually fired, he was going to get in trouble and I was going to save him. That way he would believe that he got me in the bag thought it was going to be quite the opposite.

Liam took the phone and dialed the pizza place's number, we decided to do it at four pm so that way we would make sure that the store wasn't much crowded so Kyle would the change to fall in our trap. Since there was change it could be Kyle who picked the phone we thought it would be better if Liam called while Tim and searched through the map in my laptop.

Liam asked for thirty extra-large pizzas, one with only pineapple, five without anchovies, ten with double salami, six without cheese and eight vegetarian. We got to cover our mouths while Liam ordered so we wouldn't crack in laughs and ruin everything. The cherry on top was the address, yeah I know it is a pretty simple prank, I was having a crisis of ideas since the script though thank god and Derek it was finished. We made out an address but not a simple one, we searched through the map for the farthest corner of the town. We scribbled in a piece of paper a half-real address and gave it Liam to read it for whoever was in the other side of the line.

I said half-real because the neighborhood and the street actually existed but the number of house didn't, so Kyle would go to deliver such amount of pizzas on a place he wasn't going to find, it was perfect! Of course that wasn't all the plan we still got some ideas under the sleeve.

We saw Kyle carrying the pizzas on the car and then we drove to the alley behind the pizza place while we waited, we calculated the time it would take him to drive there, meanwhile we talked a little about their days and made a video for the project explaining our plan and how I was going to save Kyle in the end, which was actual bad news for my bank account, I was planning on changing my camera in October but it would have to wait a little longer, but it didn't matter because if everything came right that night I was going to have Kyle at my feet.

When we were sure Kyle was probably getting insane trying to find the ghost house we called back. Well Liam called back, and I was happy he was a good liar, actually I would have nominated him to best motherfucker because he called and then started yelling at the woman who picked the called, telling her how mad he was because the pizza hadn't arrive yet. We hung the call and waited another five minutes, then we called again and said that we saw this boy in the car with the thirty pizzas in the backseat, we came out of our house waving at him but he ignored us and drove away. He said that Kyle was an irresponsible boy that didn't matter his costumers, that we used to buy them pizza but now we would find another place where to buy them and of course we were going to give them less than a star in our review in the city's list of best restaurants.

He hung the call irate and I felt sorry for the woman who had to talk to him, damn I didn't know Liam could be that bitchy sometimes if it wasn't my idea I would have believe all the crap he yelled at the poor phone. After that demonstration of bitchness I came out of the car and went to the grocery store next to the pizzeria and pretended I was buying some sodas –I was going to need them anyway- while I waited for Kyle's car to show up. When the car stopped. I hurried to pay for the sodas, ran back to the car and left them there, adjusted the camera in my shirt, checked my hair in the rearview mirror and jogged to the pizza place.

I opened the front door and surprisingly it seemed pretty calm, all the costumers were in the table eating peacefully while they chatted about their interesting lives –yeah sure- I went to the counter but it was… EMPTY. GREAT!

"Kyle!" I yelled innocently through the counter.

"Kyle!" I called again.

No one answered… so I decided to pass the counter, I could feel the eyes of the rest of the costumers on the back of my neck but I ignored them. Then turned in the corner of the wall and ended in the kitchen, it was hot in there, most of it was pretty dirty with sauce splattered and flour here and there. I hide behind the hall and listened to the arguing that was taking place before the oven.

"No Kyle… I don't want to…" A fat woman shrilled hysterically.

"That man called me at least ten times telling me that he was right before you, calling your name and that you didn't listen"

Liar! We just called twice.

"Caroline…" Kyle tried to speak.

"What are we going to do with thirty pizzas? Do you have any idea of the big loss of it?"

"We can sell them" Kyle suggested with low voice, from my point of view I could see his head down.

"No we can't! Did you see the order? They have a twisted taste, maybe we could get to get rid of six maybe ten… but the rest?" Wow the face of Caroline was so red that they could easily use it for their sauce.

"You will gonna have to pay for it!"

Damn! I knew all this was going to happen and I also knew that Kyle was a motherfucker but… now I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. I planned it this way… still… I came out of my stash.

"Hello!" I said happily at their back.

Caroline's fat face snapped toward me almost instantly.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" She demanded bossily.

I stepped back, suddenly she looked more like a bull than a woman.

"I came to buy some pizzas but… no one answered my calls so I let myself in"

The woman turned on her heels probably to change her expression and I took my chance to beckon Kyle to follow my lead.

"I'm sorry, we were busy" The woman excused now with a brand new smile on her red face. "But you can't be here"

"Yeah I'm sorry, it's just that I'm in a bit of a hurry, I'm throwing a party and I need twenty five pizzas, and please! Tell me that you can get them done before six, I know I'm asking too much but I…"

"Yes!" Caroline replied excited almost hopping in happiness.

"Actually we got a few done thought they are made with…"

"I don't care just please help me! I forgot to get the food before the party and now I got nothing for my friends!"

"Perfect!" She smiled at me and I faked and smile.

Kyle was still in the middle of us openmouthed.

"If you get the thirties you could get a special discount" She teased.

"Oh really?" I said thrilled for my good luck! Damn I couldn't believe I was doing that for that asshole! "Then I think I'm gonna have the thirties then"

"Follow me sweetheart, then our delivery boy will drive you with the pizzas wherever you want" She said with a honey like voice.

I gave her my card with a smile though inside I was crying, what a stupid plan! Then I followed Kyle out and I got into the passenger seat, right there I could feel the salty scent and the hotness of the thirty pizzas I just bought. Kyle got in and gasped, I glanced at him and then noticed how upset he was. He his was were trembling and I didn't need to be on his feet to know that there was lump on his throat.

"What…what was all that?" He asked with hoarse voice.

"I… I was bored at my dorm and went to see you and I'm sorry I think I heard the arguing you were having and… well you know the rest" I pretended being embarrassed.

"But Stiles… what the hell are you going to do with thirty pizzas?" He said shocked.

"Um… get fat?" I asked awkwardly

He cracked in laughs, disturbing laughs, his hands kept trembling even though he was gripping the steering wheel now.

"Well I can take you to the gym with me" He suggested without looking at me.

"Oh come on, you know much I suck at gyms" I said recalling the first time we met.

"No… you don't… you just… need someone there to help you, you can't go alone that's all"

"I don't know…"

"Come on! It'll be fun, you and me messing around, I just need to wait for Caroline to find a new delivery boy and then we will start you training"

My training how funny sounded.

"Let me think about it"

He turned on the engine now a little calmer and stared driving to my dorm, of course it was just two blocks away so it wasn't a long journey, when he stopped didn't came out of the car, instead he turned toward me, his hazel eyes glowing with the lampposts at my back.

"I'll pay you" He said embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, you would have done the Same for me" I said with a slight smile and then had a déjà vu, I recalled saying those Same words to Isaac long ago. "So… what are you going to do later? I heard a cool boy is throwing a party there will plenty of pizza" I joked.

He laughed and then sighed. "I got the night shift today" Lamented "And… I got to work in that stupid script"

"Hadn't you finish it already?"

He shook his head. "Actually I hadn't start yet, I don't know… between my classes and the work and everything else… GOD! My life is a mess, I won't be able to write it tonight, I don't even have idea of what I'm going to write"

Something squirmed inside me, JESUS! I was going to hate myself for this but… "I can help" As fast as the words came out of my mouth I resented them.

"How?"

"Wait here" I said and then climbed down of the car and darted to my room.

I opened the door and hurried to get the now printed script from my desk, came back to the car and gave it to him.

"You'll gonna have to change my name for yours of course" I joked.

"Stiles… No!" He said stunned, his eyes were open wide almost as if they were going to pop out of his head. "I can't take it, you worked hard on this"

"No I didn't" I lied. "You know me, I'm a fountain of awesome ideas"

He chortled for a while and then came out of the car and started to carry the pizzas out, I helped him with a few and while we were getting close to my dorm and an idea flashed my mind and started to knock the doors of my neighbors.

"Alright everybody free pizzas! We your asses here before I change my mind" I yelled in the corridor, some doors opened and everybody looked at me as if I was lying but then Kyle started delivering them and in no time a thick thong was cheering me as if I was a team's captain or something.

When everyone chilled down and left us alone in the corridor I got the remaining five from the car and waved at Kyle to get to my dorm, with my free hand I took my phone and started texting the betches to meet me at my place.

"Stiles wait" Kyle said at my back as I strode off.

I tilted my head and he was right behind me.

"What?" I asked.

Kyle threw his arms to my neck and pressed me and the pizzas against his chest, I froze there shocked for what was happening, Kyle was hugging me in the middle of the campus while people walked around and I couldn't help a little embarrassed and uneasy and… and all I could do was pad him in the back.

"Thank you" He muttered.

I closed my eyes and we broke.

"I'll see you tomorrow" Said happily and then left me there still holding the pizzas, my phone and my breath.

….

Janet was a nice woman, Jim knew she would treat Annie properly actually she and Jack came out of the clinic laughing which surprised Jim who awaited out of his car.

"Thanks" Jack said to him when they joined him.

"No worries" Jim replied coolly.

"I… wanna come again…Janet it's funnnny" Annie said fighting with the anesthesia.

"Great we can come back whenever you want"

"Actually, she gave me her number so I can ask an appointment whenever we need it" Said Jack with a smirk. "Well say goodbye to James Annie, we have to take the train"

"No! I promised Annie an Ice cream remember?"

"Yeah, I could have an ice cream!" She agreed chirpily.

Jack rolled his eyes and went to the passenger seat.

Annie got into her place in the backseat, Jim drove to the next Ice cream shop and got three cones for them and then started driving toward their home. While they were in half of the way he heard Annie's snores in the back seat, he smiled in his insides. Jack looked back and then Jim felt his eyes on him.

"You didn't have to" He affirmed sternly.

"What do you mean?"

"Do all what you did, take her to the arcade and take us to Janet"

"Why not? I like Annie she is pretty cool" Jim replied casually with his eyes still fixed on the road.

By the corner of his eyes he could see that Jack was going to reply but then the thought better.

"Oh! You think I was pretending to like her just because she has down?"

"No I just…"

"You know what? Because of people like you things won't normalize ever for them"

"People like me?" Jack sounded offended.

"People who think that when you are friend with someone with down it's because you feel sorry for them, guess what? Your sister is cool, down or not, you don't get it? You don't know anything about being discriminated, even when people is too nice to you they are doing it. They don't want that, they want to have a normal life, to have the Same rights to have their ideas taken in consideration, is that asking too much? And yeah I called Garret dump, but it wasn't in a bad way, the guys in the team say worse things to each other and he notices that no one dares to joke with him because of who he is THAT is discrimination"

_Damn it!_ Jim was pretty pissed at Jack after he eavesdropped in the locker room but now! Now he could feel his blood boiling, he was such a jerk!

"I'm sorry, I just… didn't think you…"

"Well you thought wrong"

"You know a lot about discrimination" Jack added thoughtful.

_You have no idea_. "I… was the punching bag of the football team at high school"

"I'm sorry" Jack said bending his head.

"Don't be, I don't, I wasn't a loser as they thought, I took revenge" He affirmed with a devilish grin.

"What did you do?" Jack chortled.

"The less you know the better"

Then there was an awkward silence that lasted almost until they reached Jack's neighborhood. When Jim was taking the curb to drop them at their home Jack spoke again.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead"

"Why you asked me to get you a place in the team if you were going to give up so easily?"

_Damn_

"I don't know, soccer isn't my I guess" Team dodged the question.

"It doesn't make sense" Jack continued.

"I don't know I guess I'm just… a childish spoiled guy but don't worry I'm sure the guys will find a replacement soon"

Jim stopped the car and unlocked the doors.

"You heard us…" Jack almost accused.

"Good night Jackie" Jim said dryly.

"Look James I'm sorry… I just…I think I judged you wrong"

"No! You judged me right! I'm just an stupid kid with more money that brain, now if you excuse me I'm gonna buy new friends"

"Look I'm sorry okay? I'm really sorry, I was just a little freaked out for the poker night and… I don't know I just… I thought you were a different person but today I saw the real you"

Jim rolled his eyes with boredom. "I don't care really, it's your guy's loss"

"I'll make it up to you"

"Look Jackie I really don't care"

"I'll, I know you you're not the best player, but I can teach you"

"NO!" Jim replied stubbornly.

"Yes, I'll teach and you'll get better and we will classify for the championship!"

Jim sighed, what did he need to do to tell him that he wasn't interested in his stupid game?

"So?"

"So what?"

"I'll see you in the next training session?"

"No"

"We well practice…"

"No!"

"After training, just us, extra hours to become a good player"

"Jack I won't go" Jim affirmed.

Jack opened the door and climbed down of the car, he went to the back door, and carried Annie in his broad arms.

"I'll see at practice" Finished and them he left.

Jim cursed in his insides about how stubborn that moron could be some times and then checked his phone I read the text I sent him.

….

They knocked the door one last time and I opened the door for Jim.

"Since when you knock?" I scoffed.

"Since I don't know if I'm gonna find you having sex oh! wait you're virgin"

_Bitch_

"Hey Betch!" The rest of the guys greet when Jim came in.

He waved at them and then we all sat in the middle of the room to watch the videos of those days, I still got in mind the fact that I hadn't a script to present the next day but it didn't matter I was going to figure out something, I always did.

"So what is?" Jim asked a little lost.

"A pizza party" I cracked in laughs and went to my bed to open the boxes.

Everybody stood and took a slice, we sat again on the floor watching how Caroline yelled at Kyle and later how he leaned and hugged me tight.

"Everybody standup" I said bossily when the video stopped.

We all did it and rose our pizza slices "For the project!" I started.

"For the project" All of them, even Jim repeated.

I took a bite of my pineapple pizza, chewed it and it tasted… it tasted like victory.

Matty pressed the record button and I sat in a stool, folded my hands over my lap and stared straight at the camera.

"Every year, nine out of ten gay teens in schools suffer from bulling because of their sexual orientation, thirty percent of them commit suicide because of their situation, because they are being mistreated, abused and threatened. They give up and chose the easiest way out they find. The lucky ones just live in fear, they live scared" I started. "But also there are boys…"

"That aren't very clear about who they are" Liam continued.

"They are kind" Freddy smiled.

"They are funny" Tim added.

"They are the best friends anyone could have" Cass spilled and then his look changed as scripted.

"They are fliters" I pointed out with stern eyes, "The world loves them and they love being loved. They are players. They sweep everything on hand, they think they own the world"

"But everything changes" Liam said drily.

"When they meet a gay guy" Matty hopped quickly before me as he said those words and flashed a toying smile toward the camera.

I stared back at the lens and this time I rose a picture I printed from Isaac's profile's that I held between my index and middle finger. "This is Isaac" I started.

"Last year I met this handsome and funny guy who made me look starts and believe I could someday reach the moon"

Jim snorted in the back of the room.

"Cut!" I gasped rolling my eyes. "What is your problem Jimmy?" I said angrily, I was still mad at him for giving up.

"All this sounds so surreal" He grinned and I ignored him.

Hip hit the record button again and I continued telling the Isaac's story and how he ruined my life.

"They make you believe they need you" Cass continued with the story when I finished. "They tell you how important you are for them, they take everything that matters in your life and make it theirs"

"Then they get confused" Tim gasped. "They see in you the things they wished a girl could have, your thrust, your understanding, your capability to actually listen to their problems and matter about them"

"They hate you for being what you are" Freddy admitted with a sad look. "And deep inside they hate themselves for believing that they might be like you"

"They hide their feelings for you the same way you try to keep yours buried inside your chest" Liam added.

It was my turn again "When they can't hold the pressure anymore they leave, they say they are not like you, they look at you with hatred and then make you cruel pranks just to prove themselves that they are right"

"That's what they did to me"

"And me"

"And me"

"And me"

"And me"

"And me"

"Yeah me too" Jim said rolling his eyes when I pointed at him with the camera.

"That's what they do to all the gays around the world"

"Curious" Liam said wryly.

"Hetero-flexible" Matt continued.

"Confused" Freddy added.

"Flirters" Cass rolled his eyes at the camera.

"Players" Tim said with a slight grin.

"I call them horrible human beings" I finished. "But the important thing is that we're going expose them to the world, we're going to end with their reign of terror, I know we can't stop the victims of bulling from committing suicide but if our project shows them that they are not alone maybe we can drop their numbers a little, and set them free"

Matt turned off the camera.

"That's all?" Jim asked with disappointment.

"I know it needs to be polished, I just don't have any more ideas for now" I pointed out with gritted teeth "What are you doing here anyway? If you're not going to help why you did come?"

"And miss all the fun? No way" He scoffed.

I swallowed what I was planning to say and went back to the rest of the betches. This time holding a picture of Sam's face printed in a whole sheet of paper. I fastened to the board next to my bed with a pin and quickly glanced at Jim with a lopsided grin on my face.

"Here!" I commanded authoritatively aiming at the picture with a pointer. "This is the enemy"

"Isn't that the guy who broke Jimmy's heart?" Hip sniggered, Jim shifted on his place.

"I don't mean Jack exactly" I explained "I'm talking about his kind" Pointed out. "The triple threats"

"Triple threats?" Tim arched a brow.

"Smart, funny and shockingly handsome" Liam said rolling his eyes.

"Thank you" I chortled and continued with my speech.

"First of all we must settle some rules about behavior among them" Started placing the tip of the pointer right on Sam's sparkling eyes.

"First of all avoid the eye contact, it gives them power over you because you won't be able to stop staring and it might expose yourselves before its time"

Cass and Tim nodded, it was just them and me now, Hip wouldn't have those problems ever, not with his flirting super powers and Jim… well as you know that betch was a traitor now.

"Now" I went to his lips. "Avoid staring at his lips" This was a basic thing actually, we needed to be their friends and nothing more, thought we have the problem that they were hot as hell and we couldn't afford to fall in their game.

"Now, elemental things…."

"Act straight" Freddy started snatching the marker from my hand and writing it in the board.

"Don't trust in them" Liam added writing it down too.

"What else?" I suggested dangling the marker before Tim's face.

"Gain their trust?" He said not convinced of his words.

"Exactly, but how are we going to do that?"

He hesitated a little and then Cass took the marker and went to the board. "By making nice things for them"

"That's right" I agreed with him and made a pause to make a larger explanation. "There are certain things that help to make them feel drawn to us, and one of those things is our intrinsic need to solve their problems a quality to comes afloat because of our feelings for them, now… we don't have real feelings for them, so we will have to pay close attention to everything they do to understand their needs so we can figure out how we can help to gain their thrust and start messing up with their minds"

All of them stared at me shocked.

"You're sick" Tim said openmouthed and them everyone cracked in laughs.

"I'm serious, it is a common thing among us. We use to do it selflessly because of our feelings for those jackass, now we need to pretend we care, we need them to believe that we are the greatest person they have ever met. And this …" I clumsily drawn a circle with the red marker around that issue. "Is our task for now on, we need to do something for them! An important thing that would change the way they look at us"

"Like what?" Freddy said curious.

"It must be something meaningful for them, I don't know like helping them with their classes or getting an autograph of their favorite author or something like it"

"They are too stupid for reading" Jim scoffed in the back of the room again and I just pretended he wasn't there, he was here just to make fun of us because of the plan, a plan he was part of in the beginning. I was so mad of him for being such drama queen, he couldn't stand the idea of Jack don't liking him and he had to screw everything up.

"Right after gaining their trust we need to vanish" I said writing it down in the board. "We will make them crave for our attention, right after making them see how cool and nice we can be we will be out of their lives"

"That's all" Tim frowned. "We just leave?"

"We're not going to actually leave, we're just going to be out of their lives for couple of days, no phone calls no emails not contact with them at all"

"Why?" Cass said confused.

"Because it is a game" Liam pursed his glistening lips in a little smile as his eyes shone with recognition. He was getting my point.

"What happened back when we were with those guys? Do you remember how it was when they left with no explanation and didn't answer their phone or anything else?"

"I went crazy thinking all kind of things, trying to look for an explanation" Freddy sighed with a funny look on his face.

I smiled. "We lost our minds, we thought they were mad at us and tried to figure out the reason to apologize with them, and later they came back as if nothing happened"

"Wait a minute…" Jim hissed with an eerie look on his eyes as he approached me. "You're planning to act like them?"

"It is a game Jimmy. A game they have never lost because we have always been too afraid to change the rules"

"So…are saying that you wanna act like them?" There was something in his eyes, the way he looked at me, he was feeling tempted I could see it I could almost taste the anticipation in the air, he was eager to take part in the plan again.

"Not fully, we will change certain things in our behavior, small details that will make a big difference in the end"

He folded his arms and sat on my bed with his eyes fixed on the board crowned by a crested brow.

"So we get lost a week and then come back as nothing happened and with an indefinite explanation, right?" Cass asked.

I nodded. "That's how we're going to mess with their minds, we will do this sporadically as the bond grows, every time coming up with more absurd excuses of where we have been"

"The more they care about us, the harder will be for them to not have us around" Tim understood flashing a bright grin.

"I like the way you think sweetie" Liam bowed at me.

I blushed.

"What is the next step?" Jim inquired relaying on his arm on my bed as he checked his phone.

"Girls" I said scribbling the word below the other issues.

"Girls?" The others said at once a little confused, well everyone but Matty who seemed to understand my point or maybe he was just picturing a part of boobs in his mind GROSS!.

"Yeah, they have girlfriends, well I'm not sure if the twins are still dating the same skanks from last year but I suspect that Kyle has a girl, I overheard him fighting with someone over the phone the other day"

"All right, girls" Tim stared at the word and bit his bottom lip. "What are we going to do with them? Seduce them?"

"No way" I shook my head waving away the thought of me trying to flirt with Kelly. "We need to get them out of our way"

"How?"

"It is up to you guys actually, we need to find as much information about them as possible, see the flaws in their relationship and exploit them and here is where Liam's skills become handy"

"My skills?" Mr. Lipstick arched a brow at me.

"Oh come on Liam, I know it was you who hacked my Facebook's account last summer and wrote that I loved to eat snots on my wall" I glared at him.

He let out a nervous giggle and looked down.

"Liam will collect the information" I continued as I passed around my room imagining the process in my mind at high detail. "With the information on hand you will seek a way to destroy their relationship, gossips, lies, I don't know, what matters is that they must break up and at the same time they must see all the good things in us that they can't find in their girls, understood?"

Tim and Cass nodded.

"Remember, they must think is themselves who are realizing that the things between them aren't working anymore, if you get involved directly it will be a waste of time."

"And by the moment they are heartbroken and upset the bond with us will be already big so…." Cass muttered.

"They will run straight to us" Tim finished for him.

All the betches craned their necks toward me. I smirked.

"Alright Jigsaw killer what's next?" Jim sniggered at me.

"Girlfriends" I snapped.

"Isn't it the same?" Freddy said furrowing his brow.

"No… we need girlfriends" I laughed "better if they are our friends because we will be jackass with them"

"What's the point of all that?" Cass asked.

"While we're sabotaging their relationship they will see we have a girl too so for now there won't be doubts about our sexual orientation, we will be good boyfriends at the beginning but bit a bit we will be neglecting them, the guys need to notice the change and at the same time we need to be working on ruining their lives, everything goes all together"

"It makes sense" They agreed.

"Anyone can guess which the next step is?" I said with a patronizing stare as if I was a teacher or something like it.

All the betches exchanged looks said some words to themselves, then Tim rose his hand.

"Come out" He said steady.

"That's right"

"Wait what?" Jim said detaching his eyes from his phone.

"What do you care anyway? You're too busing not being here" I protested.

"We will come out of the closet, in a surprisingly way. As you know when it happens we usually try to apologize for no reason with the guy, this time we will make it different, we will come out willingly and proud"

"Do you think it will work?" Cass didn't see much convinced.

"Yep" I grinned. "Because this time we won't run after them, we will just come out bravely and then we will go away again, it doesn't matter if the weeks past and they don't call you, it is part of the process you must be ready for waiting at least a month but what matters is to never look for them, it must be them who look for us… understood?"

They all nodded again.

"Liam we will need you often, we need to know where they are what they eat who are their friends, when they bath, what brand of shampoo, I don't care we need to find out everything about them to use it on our advantage"

"No problem" He grinned and his lips shone with the light of the bulb above his head.

"What will happen when they look for us?" Tim asked inquisitively.

"The relationship between the two of you will become awkward, don't push anything, be the best person in the world I don't know feed the poor, adopt a kitten, help him with his homework, do whatever is necessary to prove him that you are better than him and that you don't care what he might think about you being gay"

"And what will happen then?" Cass scratched his chin.

"I don't know, it hadn't been done before" I replied biting my lip with embarrassment.

"You don't know how it will end?" Liam said scandalized.

"I don't know… we have to see how they react alright? If everything goes fine they will crumble, they will find refuge in us and all the videos will show the change in their attitude"

"So you think they might fall for us?" Tim looked at me confused.

I nodded. "But the important thing is that we can't fall for them, or else we're doomed"

"Take it easy guys, we will figure out what to do when the time comes" Cass smirked and I joined him.

I went to the drawer of my socks and tugged out the tiny box that came in the mail two days ago, I tucked the cameras in my palm and turned toward them.

"These" I said holding one of them between my thumb and my index finger. "Are new cameras, they record on high definition and have high fidelity sound, they are way too better than the junk I gave you before"

Matty and Cass approached me and took the miniscule spy cams on their hands and pinned them on their clothes, then Tim took one and did the same. I turned on my heels and stared a Jim dangling the last one.

"What?" He said arching a brow.

"This one is for you" I placed it in the bed next to him.

"I told you betch I'm out" He replied stubbornly.

"Save it, in case you change your mind"

Then I tilted my head back to the rest of the guys and smiled. "Put cameras on your rooms, I'll do it in here too, for when I bring Kyle and Jack here"

"Sam?" Jim said at my back. "What you have to do with that dump boy?"

"He is the part of the project already, I can't let him go just because you're done with it" I snapped.

"I didn't know you could take care of two at the same time" He chuckled though I could feel the remorse in his tone.

"Are you jealous or something?"

"Oh betch please" He snorted.

"That's what I thought" I chortled and went back with the rest of the betches, maybe Jim was too lofty to admit that he was mad at me for suggesting messing with Jack too apart from Kyle. But I really thought it would be enough to bring him back in the project, but he was harder to convince than I expected, if he didn't changed his mind soon I was going to have a lot in mind and I couldn't help asking myself if I was going to be able to handle that much pressure. But it didn't matter, for the sake of the project I was ready to make whatever was necessary.

Next week I spent my classes trying to figure out a way to do something for Kyle to gain his utter trust, as I said to the betches it had to be something meaningful and deep to make them realize how good we were, but what did I have? I actually didn't know much about him, despite that he was in the acting program and he was in the soccer team and loved Native's Culture almost as much as I did. In other hand was the amusement park and his little brother but they could both be false as far as I knew and even if they weren't what was I going to do? Build him a park for him and his brother? No way. I had to be realistic, if I wanted to do something I needed to do some research first.

Derek jabbed me in the ribs at least twice in sound production that Thursday and still I kept getting lost in my thoughts with my eyes absently fixed in the board and not in my laptop as they should. I couldn't help it, I was a little mad. I got no news from Kyle since we accidentally met in the amusement park and it almost felt as if he was ignoring me. Of course I could had text him but… I didn't want to look desperate and it was frustrating. it was almost as if he was mad at me or something when I should be the one spitting fire out of my mouth, I mean, that asshole was using me remember? I should be picturing cruel ways of torture for him and not planning on giving him a VIP pass to Native's Culture next gig or something.

The answer to my dilemma came that Wednesday in the script writing course. That day I waited for Derek to go together, or else he would be so mad that I would probably end up sleeping in the hallway or something like it. It was a stressful wait, I wasn't sure what the hell was Derek doing that day after class but he got home pretty late all sweaty and agitated with a weird lopsided grin, we were late already and he came out with I need to take a bath first I rolled my eyes trying to not think of me thrusting my foot right up in his ass.

We ran through the corridors ten minutes after that days' meeting had officially started and in my mind came the memory of Derek suddenly bursting in in the middle of the speech about Shakespeare and I felt a cramp in my stomach it would be embarrassing to brake in that way. When we finally reached the conference room we came to halt and peered through the round windows in the double doors. As I imagined they already started, the same woman from the other Wednesday was again in the middle of the carpeted floor holding a ratty copy of what looked like a script for one of Shakespeare's play… so were still on the bard uh? It meant we weren't that late.

The woman kept talking and I could feel Derek's breathing in my neck making me feel anxious, I knew he wanted to come in before we lost any more time but it would disrespectful, considering how wrong it would be for him to interrupt for the second time in a row. I waited at least another ten minutes until the woman made a pause and went to the back of the room probably to get a copy of another play from the table at her back and I slowly opened the door, all the eyes went straight to us at once, The woman and I exchanged glances for a minute, my guts churned awkwardly while her eyes swept past me and focused on Derek at my back, her sight flickered and then she nodded at me and I hastily jogged to the chairs. They were all taken. Kyle was in the same spot where we took places last week but the chair next to him was occupied so I couldn't do anything more than wave at him and sweep the room with my eyes, I found a place empty in the third line and Derek got another in the fifth.

Now in our places the woman continued talking about Romeo and Juliet. Later she came with the idea of a practice session, according to her most of the time writers work under pressure, they have quite short time to come out with an awesome idea for a script and even when the movies are being shoot or the plays are being casted there tend to happen some script reconsideration that might change the essence of the story. So the idea was simple, we needed to write in our notebooks the first thing that came to our minds and make a scripted story of it. It should be an easy piece if it wasn't because I was too busy tilting my head occasionally toward Kyle to see what he was up to, the way he his brow was crested in his now famous constipated face while he stared at his notebook biting his bottom lip while he wrote, it was entertaining to see somehow. I went back to my own script and gasped. About what should I write? It could be about my best friend and what the hell he was up to, it was something that called my attention he was late two consecutive Wednesdays and he was agitated and sweaty, he didn't came from the gym, his training backpack was in the room while I waited for him so it had to be something else. I craned my neck toward Derek, he was occupied with his own script, I went back to mine and nothing, I got ideas… but the problem was that they were long and complicated and how much time left we got? Twenty minutes? It wouldn't be enough time for me to write something worthy or at least interesting.

"Pens down" Julia said with her hands on her back.

She started pacing around and looking at some of the scripts written by the attendants, after five minutes she stopped before one of the Coders, a scrawny boy with red cheeks and large glasses, which was his name? I couldn't remember, he was the Coder's living wallpaper. Julia took his script in her hand and took a look at it. A grin flashed her grin and glanced down at my empty sheet, I just hopped she didn't came to me, it would be so embarrassing.

She cleared her throat. "Did anyone write about two lovers cursed by a forbidden love?" She asked with a condescending look on her face.

I quickly darted my eyes toward Kyle and watched him awkwardly rising his hand as he stared at the rest of the crowd openmouthed, I gaped too and chuckled in my insides, how basic human brain was. Most of them, including the whole Coder's clique were rising their hands with pride at first and then with disappointment.

"Don't feel bad, I did on purpose, I kept talking about Romeo and Juliet for this long to induce you to write about it. Usually we tend to write about the last thing in our minds. Our thoughts draw us to it even if try not to. Now here comes your real appointment, I want you to…"

She suddenly stopped and all the heads came to the last line of seats, curiously I shifted on my chair too and looked at Kyle who was on the phone. I couldn't hear well what was he talking because I was pretty long from him all I could get was:

"I'll be there in ten minutes" Said quickly cutting the call and picking up his stuffs.

"I'm sorry" Apologized staring at Julia.

"As I was saying" She continued. "I want you to go home and write a full script. This time without the pressure of the time, think wisely about what you want to write about, use the techniques we talk about last Wednesday and don't feel afraid of what you might want to write, be yourselves, embrace it and you will see that it will worth the hard work in the end."

Everyone started standing when Kyle was already coming out at long strides, I took him by his sleeve when he was passing by next to me and he coked his head and arched a brow and then snapped his head in realization "I'm sorry Stiles, can't stay, got some pizzas to deliver"

"What? What happened to the other guy?" I said confused.

"I'm not sure but they fired him"

"Oh…" I replied shocked "What a pity"

"A pity? I'm screwed, now I got to do his work too until they find someone new" He complained.

He padded me in the shoulder and strode off and then… the idea came to my mind, I got it… what I was looking for! The nice thing I needed to do for him to make him believe he could trust me! I was going to get him fired!

It was Thursday evening and I didn't know anything from Kyle. I was still figuring how I was going to get him fired, well not actually fired. I wanted to get him in trouble and be nearly fired to find a way to save him, but how? I just hoped he didn't hate his job or else or my work was going to be in vain. After class I decided to start working on my script. I still got all this ton of ideas that and the end didn't led me anywhere. Derek sat on his bed while I was still fighting the procrastination and opened his laptop.

I gazed up as he scowled and started writing in silence, was he working on his script already? Damn his fingers swept on the keys at high speed and made me feel anxious, stories was always my thing. I always helped him with the ideas for his at our classes but now… well I had a lot in mind, between Kyle, Jack and Jim and the horrible human beings project I just could focus even though I got some ideas.

After thirty minutes of wandering thoughts I decided to chance my strategy and decided to write according to what I wanted. I was good in character development, my professors always pointed out that, my characters' feelings and thoughts in my script always made my stories deep and entertaining so… I needed a main character who… whose attitude and mind changed completely from the beginning of the story to the end. Alright that was a beginning but what now?

I burned my nerve cells a little longer until the answer came… My main character was going to suffer a lot of struggles during the story but all of them were going to take him or her to hit bottom, it was an inverse process… but to do that it had to be a well centered person, who discovers a lot of shit about himself or herself… herself… a doctor… no… a psychiatrist. She was going to discover that she was insane! Great. The ideas started coming at torrents and before I realized I wrote down five scenes of the story but it was going to be a long story so it would take at least another fifty…

I heard a chuckle.

I glanced up and found Derek with his eyes still fixed on the screen of his laptop, his fleshy and pinky lips curved in a half-grin like a kid who just made something mischievous. About what was he writing? He looked like he was having a lot of fun. Suddenly he noticed my stared and looked back at me. It came back with my own script embarrassed and tried to focus again, though something stung me in the back of the neck, I felt uneasy and anxious. I wanted to know what the hell Derek was writing about though I didn't want to ask and make him believe I was trying to steal his ideas, yeah I know I was a little competitive even with Derek I just… couldn't help it.

He chuckled once more and I gave up, I couldn't concentrate… not with him making so much noise in the room and acting like dump just because of his script.

I closed my laptop and looked at the window at my back. It was a spring afternoon. Oh spring! The birds and the bees and the constant reminder that I was more virgin than a bunch of nuns. The sun was setting down flashing orange and coppery rays in the distant horizon, at that time the soccer team was finishing their training session so… Kyle was there… and Jack too.

I put on my sneakers, fastened the camera on my shirt and left my room in long strides, the day was almost over which meant I didn't have much time to sneak into the playing field and address him. I darted through the campus at and steady pace though I was already feeling the lack of air in my lungs and cursed in my insides for having so less stamina in my body. I still I couldn't believe I got to outrun those guys the night of the rave.

When I made to the soccer field the sun was almost completely gone, the lights were on, the bleachers lonely and the team already parting. I spotted Kyle wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel next to locker room's door. In the middle of the playing field was Jack talking to a dark skinned man while both stared to a sheet a paper and exchanged thoughts about it. I waited hidden behind the bleachers a couple of minutes until the man left and I came out of my stash to catch up Jack before he left home. I knew I was doing wrong right when my eyes and Sam's met. I mean, Jack was supposed to be Jim's target and not mine but now that Jim was out of the game I needed to do something, and yeah! It had nothing to do with the fact that Jack was HOT.

"Hey Sam!" I said casually waving my hand.

He tilted his head toward me with interest, blinked twice and then his eyes flickered with recognition right when I stopped before him and shook hands with him.

"You're the movies director right?" He said with that breathtaking smile.

I struggled to not sigh like a high school girl and just nodded.

"I'm Stiles"

"Michael! I remember" He grinned again.

CRAP!

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked furrowing his brow.

Oh shit! Good question! I didn't know what the hell I was doing there. I mean, I went to see him to do something, to not lose his track but now… I didn't think about what I was going to do then. Luckily the answer came to my mind in matter of seconds.

"Remember what I told you about the script I was writing?"

"About the soccer team? Yeah" He nodded.

"I'm having a hard time with some terms. See, I don't know much about the game and I want it to be as realistic as possible"

He chuckled. I died.

"I think I can help"

He led me to the bleachers and we both sat next to each other while bit a bit the rest of the team left the playing field. Oh god! I was almost alone with Jackson Whittemore in a spring night, it was like a dream came true.

Well it wasn't exactly like a dream, we were talking about soccer and I didn't know shit about soccer and he kept rambling in a weird slang I didn't have idea about. Quickly terms like clean sheet, derby and hattrick clouded my mind and made me feel dizzy but all I could do was nod. When Jack was explaining how to perform a good nutmeg I heard steps and a shadow darkened my view of Sam's face. I craned my neck and found Kyle standing behind me carrying a duffel bag on his shoulder.

"Stiles what are you doing here?" He said surprised of finding me there.

"Uh… I was just… asking Jack about some soccer terms" I explained feeling like I was just busted by the police buying crack or something.

"You could have asked me" He pointed out with a look on his eyes… an apex of odd light emerged from them like… was he jealous?

"I didn't want to bother, I know how busy you have been lately with your work" I blurted out and then came back to Jack who was already standing.

"I'm sorry Michael, I have to go now but came whenever you want I we will continue" Jack apologized.

I looked down with disappointment and actually some relief "It's okay I'll come back other day"

Jack nodded with a grin and turned to leave.

I craned my neck toward Kyle whose face had still a slight hint of a scowl, I wanted to burst in laughs right in his face, he was mad at me for asking Jack advices instead of him! _I'm Sorry I hurt your Macho Ego_ I though holding a sneer back.

"Have you seen James lately?" Kyle asked as he started pacing toward the exit next to me.

"James?" Jack voice said at my right.

Oh damn I forgot Kyle knew Jim and I were friends, and it was obvious that since Jim left the project it was just matter of time before he did the same with the team.

"Do you know James Taylor?" Jack approached and looked at me suspiciously.

Oh my god! He was eager to know what the hell happened to Jimmy!

_What the hell is wrong with you two?_

"Is he sick? Hadn't come to practice the last week" Jacks aid a little preoccupied.

Oh my god! He was concerned about Jim! What the hell? Well it made sense, without Jim they were only ten and by law they needed eleven players… damn! How in the hell did I know that? Oh crap I was becoming one of them!

I shook my head. "I don't know" I faked a sorry face. "I don't know him that much, we just hanged out a couple of times" Lied.

Jack blinked twice and them his expression deflated with disappointment.

"I'm sorry I have to go, I got to work on my script" I lied again before Kyle opened his mouth and gave me off, though I still wasn't sure how did he know that Jim and I were friends.

I waved at them and hurried to run to the back of the bleachers, eavesdropped until the thump of their steps on the grass faded. Then I looked around and made sure I was alone before tugging out my phone and dialing Jim's phone number.

….

Jim cut the call and rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe I was so stubborn about getting him into the project. He knew I was just teasing him. He finished buttoning his shirt and came to the mirror to take a look at himself. It was poker night but now… he couldn't tell why he didn't feel like playing. He tugged his phone and texted Carlos apologizing. Later he changed back into his pajamas and sat before his computer. He knew I was right about Sam, after all he got this direct message in his Facebook account two nights ago. He read it twice right when he got it. It said "Are you okay buddy? Are you sick? Why hadn't you come to the practice?" And yeah it was from Sam.

Of course soon or later Jack would know that Jim had read the message already because Facebook got that annoying feature now. But he didn't want to reply to him, he was still angry after hearing all those stuffs that Jack said that day in the locker room. He glanced down and stared at the camera I gave him the other day. It got a minuscule gleam on one side that came from the bulb behind Jim's head. He shook his head and stood to leave. When he was going to click the X in the chat square he accidentally pressed the mouse button on Sam's name and the page automatically took him to the Captain's profile. Now he could see that beaming smile that almost took the whole header of the profile. Jim took a minute to think what to do and then he sat back in his chair and started scrolling down the profile, there were many invitations to parties from all kind of people, there were also some game requests and few pictures. One called his attention and he clicked it, it was a picture of Jack kneeling on a white floor, at his back were a group of kids with ill countenances, most of them got their heads shaved. In the header of the photo read: Community center for children with Cancer oh, poor kids! Was Jack a volunteer or something? It didn't matter it didn't change the fact that Jim was done with the soccer and Jack for good.

….

Those days were especially difficult for me, not because I got a lot of school work or anything. I was just… coming through a writer's block, I got the ideas, well, sort of but still the words didn't came. By Saturday I was already having a hard a time with it, I could feel Wednesday lurking in the corner and it mortified me, I wasn't used to have shortage of idea, actually it was quite the opposite, sometimes I got so many stuffs in my head that I could spend the whole sleepless night living in imaginary places, but now… God it was frustrating! And more discouraging was to hear Derek's time to time silly giggles as if he was writing the most hilarious story ever done. When I heard him snigger for the fifth time in the last hour I accidentally tsked and took a deep breath, almost instantly I felt his eyes on me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I glanced down and there was his stupid grin, was he mocking at me or something? Damn.

I nodded "Yeah, everything is cool here" I replied dryly though I'm pretty sure I was still scowling because them he arched a brow suspiciously.

"Oh come on!" He chortled "Do you really think you can lie to me? You're offending me"

_Oh yeah Mr. Brilliant ass? Well let me tell you where you can shove that patronizing…_

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing Derek okay?" I said sharply and shit I lost.

"See? I knew something was up. What happens? Are you having writing issues?"

"You are enjoining it, don't you?" I replied more harshly than I intended.

"Come on Stiles, do you really believe I can rejoice if you're having problems?"

I held my breath, I god he was right! How could think that wrong of him? "It isn't a big deal, it's just a stupid script"

"For you it's more than that and you know it" He grinned.

Oh crap that grin, he knew me better than anyone and yup! Now I was grinning too, he was right! I always got to do the perfect thing, for me it was always a challenge and I hated losing.

"What about you?" I asked hoping he could forget about my poor script.

"What about me?" He said not getting the point.

"What are you writing? It sounds like Aaron Seltzer's next big thing" I joked.

He glared at me.

"It's just a comedy, I'm not sure about it I just can't stop laughing with the funny ideas I get"

"Really?" I bit my bottom lip intrigued "Like what?"

"Do you remember that time when you ripped off your pants with the scalpel in Biology and Mr. Jensen sent you with you the nurse and then everybody in the hallways started taking pictures and it came out even in the school's newspaper?"

My face reddened, Oh damn I forgot that embarrassing day, I thought I was done with that humiliating day!

"You think that's funny? Do you have any idea of how embarrassed I felt?" I spat angrily and then something clicked in my head… He was writing about me, HE WAS WRITING ABOUT ME!

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I growled "You can't write about me!" I lumbered over him on his bed and snatched the laptop from his grasp as he tried to excuse himself.

"I'm not… _writing_ about you, there were just some… funny things that I thought…"

Fuck his excuses, my whole awkward childhood was written in that text, what in the hell crossed his mind when he decided to write about that disturbing Biology class or when we were eating ice cream in the mall and mine fell from the second floor and landed on the head of a bald man and… wait, that was funny actually… or when he convinced ride or bikes in that race circuit and I ended having a mud cake in my face…. Well my face was hilarious that day… FUCK THAT! It was a violation to my privacy, I felt exposed!

"It isn't you" He tried to calm me down. "It just someone that resembles you a little" He explained with a soft and innocent grin that almost made me forget how mad I was.

I kept reading and alright! It was all about ME, I wasn't sure if I should have felt betrayed or flattered, but the thing is that it was genius, yeah most of those things were terrible memories for me, but Derek managed to make them look funny and actually I couldn't help laughing my ass out at least seven times and it was just an small draft, there was still a lot to be written. –The hell that I knew that- but I wasn't still sure if I was going to let him present it after all.

"I could sue you" I joked when I handled him his laptop back.

He rolled his eyes with a funny look on his face. "Okay, let me see yours now" He asked and went to my bed.

I jumped over him before got a change to dig his claws on my computer "It's not ready" I said uneasy.

"It's okay, I'm just curious about what are you doing" He replied with greedy eyes "I'm been watching all this time, I wanna know now"

_Really?_

"Okay" I gave up and let him read the script.

Derek spend twenty minutes reading the poor twelve pages I got to write since Thursday, I couldn't tell his thoughts while he read, he got his brushy brows wrinkled and his electric blue eyes fixed that didn't tease of what was going through his mind at all.

When he finished he whistled, was that good?

"I like the concept, but the story is still in a primitive stage" Said with that self-sufficient and annoying voice I hated so much.

"I know, that's why I didn't want you to see it just yet"

"Do you have an idea of what do you want to do with your main character in the end?"

"I want her realize that she is crazy"

He scratched his head thoughtful, even something as common as that seemed pretty different now that his arms were as big as balloons.

"What about adding some paranormal things?"

I scoffed "Oh yeah?" I said sarcastically.

"I mean it, make her believe that she is see feeling weird things, that something is wrong around her when it actually is happening inside of her mind… and… at the end…."

"Make her realize that it was all her fault that she became insane because of something awful that she did" I finished for him realizing that it was actually a hell of a good idea.

"Oh my god Derek thank you" I said grateful. "When you started having those awesome ideas?"

"I learned from the best" He smirked and my heart stopped short, Oh god! Derek could be so cute sometimes.

I smiled too and went back to my bed, for a second I forgot about Kyle and that I needed to do something to get him fired, I didn't care, because I got a lot to write about, everything else could wait.

….

It was Tuesday afternoon, Jim came out of the car and glanced the entrance of the odontology clinic near his home, he was kind of bored and it was time for a check out so he decided to come. On normal circumstances he would have gone to Janet's clinic, she was an intimate friend of his mom and she was a pretty cool woman, but her clinic was at the other side of the city, to be more specific near Oakwood and Jim wasn't in the mood to ride all the way there. He opened the door and went to the receptionist, she was a tall young woman near her thirties who checked his name in the system and asked him to wait for his turn in the waiting room. He sat on an uncomfortable chair in front of her, at his side a pair of old ladies were chatting about all the pains they got because of their age. Jim snatched a magazine from the table at his left and opened it .While he read he turned on the music on his phone and laid his back against the wall. The door opened and by the corner of his eyes he could see two figures striding toward the receptionist one of them being dragged by the other. He focused in the fashion magazine and then shoved his hands on his pocket, he tugged the camera I gave him and took a look at it. He couldn't believe he actually considered to apply in Oakwood, what was coming through his mind then? He wasn't sure. The song he was listening ended and through the muffling material of his earphones he got to hear an arguing just in front of him. The two persons that got after him were still before the counter, he heard a high pitched cry and looked up.

"No! I don't want to get in" Sobbed a girl's voice.

"You need it, please calm down" Tried to shush the yelps a familiar voice.

Jims' heart leapt, he looked higher automatically and even though the boy was back to him Jim recognized him. It was Sam.

"I'm sorry but we can't attend her"

"Please, she is in pain" Sam's voice begged. "I promise she will calm down"

"I'm sorry Sr. it is not up to me" The receptionist said embarrassed.

Then Jim got a bit of the muttering the ladies were having at his right.

"I think she is"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, I can see the side of her face from here"

What were they talking about?

Jim fixed his eyes back to Jack and the girl that desperately tried to break free from his grasp while she sobbed.

"When I called this morning you said you would attend her" Jack reproached with indignation.

"Maybe if you get her to calm down!" The receptionist yelled above the cries of the girl that still tried to let go.

Jim stood and addressed them. He was still behind Jack but now he could get a better look of the girl whose wrist he was holding tight. She got blond hair up to her shoulders, round face, small nose and mouth, a flat nasal bridge and slanted eyes upward and outwards. She got Down syndrome.

"We got to take the train all the way here!" Jack said angrily, even when he was angry he somehow managed to sound nice, it was kind of funny actually.

The girl stopped crying and stared at Jim suspiciously.

"I'm sorry Sr."

"What's going on?" Jim asked casually.

Jack turned on his heels. "James!" He said shocked "What are you doing here?"

"Buying crack, what do you think?" He replied harshly.

The girl started crying again.

"Annie calm down" Jack begged.

"I'm sorry but I'm have to ask you to leave" The receptionist said dully.

Something bitter scorched the back of the Jim's throat. "You're saying she can't come here because of her condition?" He snapped glaring at the woman. He could hear more whispers at his back.

"That's… not, I didn't mean" The woman tried to excuse herself.

"I want to go to the arcade Sam, you promised we would go to the arcade"

"Later Annie" Jack said with frustration in his voice.

A door opened at their left and a woman in a medical gown showed up her face through the gap in the door "Is something wrong Gwen?"

The receptionist went pale as the wall behind her "No ma'am"

"Actually there is a problem" Jim grunted "This woman here, doesn't want to book my friend because of her condition"

"What? I'm sorry…" The doctor started embarrassed.

"That's not true, I was just…"

"She asked us to leave" Jack added.

The woman came out and approached them with wide eyes, "I'm so sorry for this misunderstanding" She apologized. "Gwen please guide Miss..?

"Whittemore"

"Miss Whittemore to my office while I…"

"Don't worry we are leaving" Jim spat with despise though he wasn't sure if Jack would follow him. What the heck was he doing?

As he came out of the clinic he pinned the camera to his shirt, still not sure of why. When he turned on his heels Jack and Annie were right behind him.

"So… you're Annie?" He asked causally.

The girl glanced at him warily and then nodded.

"And you like arcades?" He continued.

She nodded again.

"That's great, because I wanted to go right now and… I don't wanna go alone Annie, would you play with me?" He asked grinning.

"We can't we have to find a…" Jack started.

Jim rose his hand to shut him.

"Can we go Sam?" Annie asked with sparkling eyes. "Please!"

"Annie we have to…"

Jim turned to him and made him signs with his eyes.

"Alright" The soccer captain gave up with a sigh.

"Great!" She shouted with excitement.

Jim guided them to his car and they got in, while Annie was fastening her seatbelt in the back Jack scowled.

"I have a friend who can help" Jim muttered and turned on the engine.

"Annie do you like Katy Perry?" He suggested.

"Are you kidding? I love her!" Annie replied from the backseat, Jim chuckled and hit the play button of the stereo to not listen to Sam's complains about him taking them to the nearest arcade on the GPS.

There was place near Janet's clinic at the other side of the city so Jim though it was perfect for them. They came out of the car and went straight to the games. Annie and him took a pair of plastic gunshots and started to kill zombies inside the crowded Arcade while Jack kept saying that Annie shouldn't play those games. While they played Annie and Jim talked a little, She was Sam's little sister, she was thirteen and got a cavity in one of her tooth, she didn't want to go to the doctor because they were all creepy like the zombies they were killing. She liked Katy Perry and hated Lady Gaga and Jim couldn't laugh enough which was pretty bad because he closed his eyes and she somehow scored twice the amount of zombies than him in matter of seconds, she loved Harry Potter and watching but she had to watch the movies in Brittany's home because her parents thought that he was evil.

After killing a bunch of zombies and winning a couple of bike rides Jim decided to take a break and bought her a milkshake.

"It's strawberry, how didn't know it was favorite?" She asked smiling joyful in the table they got.

"I'm a psychic" Jim chuckled staring at the strawberry earring she was wearing that matched her shoes material's pattern.

Jack snorted amused and Jim rolled his eyes.

"Hey Annie" Jim started thoughtful. "I was thinking… I need to visit a friend of mine right now and I thought that maybe you could go with me"

"Is she nice?" Annie frowned suspiciously.

"Of course" Jim affirmed "Actually, she used to play Zombie Rush with me when I was younger"

"You're lying!" She accused with a chortle. "The game isn't that old!"

"Are you saying I'm old?" He said pretending to be hurt. "You got me" Laughed.

"Anyway, do you think we could go there for a while?"

"Is she a doctor isn't she?" She pursed her lips and squinted.

Jim chewed his lower lip, _think betch, think!_ "Yeah, but she is a good one"

"How do you know?"

"She is my friend, she is nice and she is good to everybody, not like the hag from the other clinic"

"She can help you with the pain" Jack baited.

Annie starched her head while she looked to both of them thoughtful.

"Then we can go for some ice creams to get more rotten teeth" He sniggered.

"Okay" Annie gave up. "But you have to promise it won't hurt" She said with some mistrust in her voice.

"It won't" Jim affirmed nodding.

"Not even a bit" Jack agreed and then slurred a thank you to him.

….

So… Tuesday evening, my plan was ready and we were just about to execute it. I was in Tim's car with him and Liam. Since Tim got already made his good deed for his twin –don't ask me which, because I couldn't tell them apart- He agreed to help me with my idea. It was simple, as I told you before I was going to get Kyle fired from the pizza place. Well, not actually fired, he was going to get in trouble and I was going to save him. That way he would believe that he got me in the bag thought it was going to be quite the opposite.

Liam took the phone and dialed the pizza place's number, we decided to do it at four pm so that way we would make sure that the store wasn't much crowded so Kyle would have the change to fall in our trap. Since there was a chance it could be Kyle who picked the phone we thought it would be better if Liam called while Tim and I searched through the map in my laptop.

Liam asked for thirty extra-large pizzas, one with only pineapple, five without anchovies, ten with double salami, six without cheese and eight vegetarian. We got to cover our mouths while Liam ordered so we wouldn't crack in laughs and ruin everything. The cherry on top was the address, yeah I know it is a pretty simple prank, I was having a crisis of ideas since the script though thank god and Derek it was finished. We made out an address but not a simple one, we searched through the map for the farthest corner of the town. We scribbled in a piece of paper a half-real address and gave it Liam to read it for whoever was in the other side of the line.

I said half-real because the neighborhood and the street actually existed but the number of house didn't, so Kyle would go to deliver such amount of pizzas on a place he wasn't going to find, it was perfect! Of course that wasn't all the plan we still got some ideas under the sleeve.

We saw Kyle carrying the pizzas on the car and then we drove to the alley behind the pizza place while we waited, we calculated the time it would take him to drive there, meanwhile we talked a little about their days and made a video for the project explaining our plan and how I was going to save Kyle in the end, which was actual bad news for my bank account, I was planning on changing my camera in October but it would have to wait a little longer, but it didn't matter because if everything came right that night I was going to have Kyle at my feet.

When we were sure Kyle was probably getting insane trying to find the ghost house we called back. Well Liam called back, and I was happy he was a good liar, actually I would have nominated him to best motherfucker because he called and then started yelling at the woman who picked the called, telling her how mad he was because the pizza hadn't arrive yet. We hung the call and waited another five minutes, then we called again and said that we saw this boy in the car with the thirty pizzas in the backseat, we came out of our house waving at him but he ignored us and drove away. He said that Kyle was an irresponsible boy that didn't matter his costumers, that we used to buy them pizza but now we would find another place where to buy them and of course we were going to give them less than a star in our review in the city's list of best restaurants.

He hung the call irate and I felt sorry for the woman who had to talk to him. Damn! I didn't know Liam could be that bitchy sometimes, if it wasn't my idea I would have believe all the crap he yelled at the poor phone. After that demonstration of bitchness I came out of the car and went to the grocery store next to the pizzeria and pretended I was buying some sodas –I was going to need them anyway- while I waited for Kyle's car to show up. When the car stopped I hurried to pay for the sodas, ran back to the car and left them there, adjusted the camera in my shirt, checked my hair in the rearview mirror and jogged to the pizza place.

I opened the front door and surprisingly it seemed pretty calm, all the costumers were in the table eating peacefully while they chatted about their interesting lives –yeah sure- I went to the counter but it was… EMPTY. GREAT!

"Kyle!" I yelled innocently through the counter.

"Kyle!" I called again.

No one answered… so I decided to pass the counter, I could feel the eyes of the rest of the costumers on the back of my neck but I ignored them. Then turned in the corner of the wall and ended in the kitchen, it was hot in there, most of it was pretty dirty with sauce splattered and flour here and there. I hide behind the wall and listened to the arguing that was taking place before the oven.

"No Kyle… I don't want to…" A fat woman shrilled hysterically.

"That man called me at least ten times telling me that he was right before you, calling your name and that you didn't listen"

Liar! We just called twice.

"Caroline…" Kyle tried to speak.

"What are we going to do with thirty pizzas? Do you have any idea of the big loss of it?"

"We can sell them" Kyle suggested with low voice, from my point of view I could see his head down.

"No we can't! Did you see the order? They have a twisted taste, maybe we could get to get rid of six maybe ten… but the rest?" Wow the face of Caroline was so red that they could easily use her head for their sauce.

"You will gonna have to pay for it!"

Damn! I knew all this was going to happen and I also knew that Kyle was a motherfucker but… now I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. I planned it this way… still… I came out of my stash.

"Hello!" I said happily at their back.

Caroline's fat face snapped toward me almost instantly.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" She demanded bossily.

I stepped back, suddenly she looked more like a bull than a woman.

"I came to buy some pizzas but… no one answered my calls so I let myself in"

The woman turned on her heels probably to change her expression and I took my chance to beckon Kyle to follow my lead.

"I'm sorry, we were busy" The woman excused now with a brand new smile on her red face. "But you can't be here"

"Yeah I'm sorry, it's just that I'm in a bit of a hurry, I'm throwing a party and I need twenty five pizzas, and please! Tell me that you can get them done before six, I know I'm asking too much but I…"

"Yes!" Caroline replied excited almost hopping in happiness.

"Actually we got a few done thought they are made with…"

"I don't care just please help me! I forgot to get the food before the party and now I got nothing for my friends!"

"Perfect!" She smiled at me and I faked and smile.

Kyle was still in the middle of us openmouthed.

"If you get the thirties you could get a special discount" She teased.

"Oh really?" I said thrilled for my good luck! Damn I couldn't believe I was doing that for that asshole! "Then I think I'm gonna have the thirties then"

"Follow me sweetheart, then our delivery boy will drive you with the pizzas wherever you want" She said with a honey like voice.

I gave her my card with a smile though inside I was crying, what a stupid plan! Then I followed Kyle out and I got into the passenger seat, right there I could feel the salty scent and the hotness of the thirty pizzas I just bought. Kyle got in and gasped, I glanced at him and then noticed how upset he was. His hands were trembling and I didn't need to be on his feet to know that there was lump on his throat.

"What…what was all that?" He asked with hoarse voice.

"I… I was bored at my dorm and went to see you and I'm sorry I think I heard the arguing you were having and… well you know the rest" I pretended being embarrassed.

"But Stiles… what the hell are you going to do with thirty pizzas?" He said shocked.

"Um… get fat?" I asked awkwardly

He cracked in laughs, disturbing laughs, his hands kept trembling even though he was gripping the steering wheel now.

"Well I can take you to the gym with me" He suggested without looking at me.

"Oh come on, you know much I suck at gyms" I said recalling the first time we met.

"No… you don't… you just… need someone there to help you, you can't go alone that's all"

"I don't know…"

"Come on! It'll be fun, you and me messing around, I just need to wait for Caroline to find a new delivery boy and then we will start you training"

My training how funny sounded.

"Let me think about it"

He turned on the engine now a little calmer and stared driving to my dorm, of course it was just two blocks away so it wasn't a long journey, when he stopped didn't came out of the car, instead he turned toward me, his hazel eyes glowing with the lampposts at my back.

"I'll pay you" He said embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, you would have done the same for me" I said with a slight smile and then had a déjà vu, I recalled saying those same words to Isaac long ago. "So… what are you going to do later? I heard a cool boy is throwing a party there will plenty of pizza" I joked.

He laughed and then sighed. "I got the night shift today" Lamented "And… I got to work in that stupid script"

"Hadn't you finish it already?"

He shook his head. "Actually I hadn't start yet, I don't know… between my classes and the work and everything else… GOD! My life is a mess, I won't be able to write it tonight, I don't even have idea of what I'm going to write"

Something squirmed inside me, JESUS! I was going to hate myself for this but… "I can help" As fast as the words came out of my mouth I resented them.

"How?"

"Wait here" I said and then climbed down of the car and darted to my room.

I opened the door and hurried to get the now printed script from my desk, came back to the car and gave it to him.

"You'll gonna have to change my name for yours of course" I joked.

"Stiles… No!" He said stunned, his eyes were open wide almost as if they were going to pop out of his head. "I can't take it, you worked hard on this"

"No I didn't" I lied. "You know me, I'm a fountain of awesome ideas"

He chortled for a while and then came out of the car and started to carry the pizzas out, I helped him with a few and while we were getting close to my dorm and an idea flashed my mind and started to knock the doors of my neighbors.

"Alright everybody free pizzas! Get your asses here before I change my mind" I shouted in the corridor. Some doors opened and everybody looked at me as if I was lying but then Kyle started delivering them and in no time a thick thong was cheering me as if I was a team's captain or something.

When everyone chilled down and left us alone in the corridor I got the remaining five from the car and waved at Kyle to get to my dorm, with my free hand I took my phone and started texting the betches to meet me at my place.

"Stiles wait" Kyle said at my back as I strode off.

I tilted my head and he was right behind me.

"What?" I asked.

Kyle threw his arms to my neck and pressed me and the pizzas against his chest, I froze there shocked for what was happening, Kyle was hugging me in the middle of the campus while people walked around and I couldn't help a little embarrassed and uneasy and… and all I could do was pad him in the back.

"Thank you" He muttered.

I closed my eyes and we broke.

"I'll see you tomorrow" Said happily and then left me there still holding the pizzas, my phone and my breath.

….

Janet was a nice woman, Jim knew she would treat Annie properly actually she and Jack came out of the clinic laughing which surprised Jim who awaited out of his car.

"Thanks" Jack said to him when they joined him.

"No worries" Jim replied coolly.

"I… wanna come again…Janet it's funnnny" Annie said fighting with the anesthesia.

"Great we can come back whenever you want"

"Actually, she gave me her number so I can ask an appointment whenever we need it" Said Jack with a smirk. "Well, say goodbye to James Annie, we have to take the train"

"No! I promised Annie an Ice cream remember?"

"Yeah, I could have an ice cream!" She agreed chirpily.

Jack rolled his eyes and went to the passenger seat.

Annie got into her place in the backseat, Jim drove to the next Ice cream shop and got three cones for them and then started driving toward their home. While they were in half of the way he heard Annie's snores in the back seat, he smiled in his insides. Jack looked back and then Jim felt his eyes on him.

"You didn't have to" He affirmed sternly.

"What do you mean?"

"Do all what you did, take her to the arcade and take us to Janet"

"Why not? I like Annie she is pretty cool" Jim replied casually with his eyes still fixed on the road.

By the corner of his eyes he could see that Jack was going to reply but then the thought better.

"Oh! You think I was pretending to like her just because she has down?"

"No I just…"

"You know what? Because of people like you things won't normalize ever for them"

"People like me?" Jack sounded offended.

"People who think that when you are friend with someone with down it's because you feel sorry for them, guess what? Your sister is cool, down or not, you don't get it? You don't know anything about being discriminated, even when people is too nice to you they are doing it. They don't want that, they want to have a normal life, to have the same rights to have their ideas taken in consideration, is that asking too much? And yeah I called Garret dump, but it wasn't in a bad way, the guys in the team say worse things to each other and he notices that no one dares to joke with him because of who he is THAT is discrimination"

_Damn it!_ Jim was pretty pissed at Jack after he eavesdropped in the locker room but now! Now he could feel his blood boiling, he was such a jerk!

"I'm sorry, I just… didn't think you…"

"Well you thought wrong"

"You know a lot about discrimination" Jack added thoughtful.

_You have no idea_. "I… was the punching bag of the football team at high school"

"I'm sorry" Jack said bending his head.

"Don't be, I don't, I wasn't a loser as they thought, I took revenge" He affirmed with a devilish grin.

"What did you do?" Jack chortled.

"The less you know the better"

Then there was an awkward silence that lasted almost until they reached Sam's neighborhood. When Jim was taking the curb to drop them at their home Jack spoke again.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead"

"Why you asked me to get you a place in the team if you were going to give up so easily?"

_Damn_

"I don't know, soccer isn't my thing I guess" He dodged the question.

"It doesn't make sense" Jack continued.

"I don't know I guess I'm just… a childish spoiled guy but don't worry I'm sure the guys will find a replacement soon"

Jim stopped the car and unlocked the doors.

"You heard us…" Jack almost accused.

"Good night Jackie" Jim said dryly.

"Look James I'm sorry… I just…I think I judged you wrong"

"No! You judged me right! I'm just an stupid kid with more money that brain, now if you excuse me I'm gonna buy new friends"

"Look I'm sorry okay? I'm really sorry, I was just a little freaked out for the poker night and… I don't know I just… I thought you were a different person but today I saw the real you"

Jim rolled his eyes with boredom. "I don't care really, it's your guy's loss"

"I'll make it up to you"

"Look Jackie I really don't care"

"I will, I know you you're not the best player, but I can teach you"

"NO!" Jim replied stubbornly.

"Yes, I'll teach and you'll get better and we will classify for the championship!"

Jim sighed, what did he need to do to tell him that he wasn't interested in his stupid game?

"So?"

"So what?"

"I'll see you in the next training session?"

"No"

"We well practice…"

"No!"

"After training, just us, extra hours to become a good player"

"Jack I won't go" Jim affirmed.

Jack opened the door and climbed down of the car, he went to the back door, and carried Annie in his broad arms.

"I'll see at practice" Finished with a lopsided smirk and them he left.

Jim cursed in his insides about how stubborn that moron could be some times and then checked his phone I read the text I sent him.

….

They knocked one last time and I opened the door for Jim.

"Since when you knock?" I scoffed.

"Since I don't know if I'm gonna find you having sex oh! wait you're virgin"

_Bitch_

"Hey Betch!" The rest of the guys greet when Jim came in.

He waved at them and then we all sat in the middle of the room to watch the videos of those days, I still got in mind the fact that I hadn't a script to present the next day but it didn't matter I was going to figure out something, I always did.

"So what is this?" Jim asked a little lost.

"A pizza party" I cracked in laughs and went to my bed to open the boxes.

Everybody stood and took a slice, we sat again on the floor watching how Caroline yelled at Kyle and later how he leaned and hugged me tight.

"Everybody standup" I said bossily when the video stopped.

We all did it and rose our pizza slices "For the project!" I started.

"For the project" All of them, even Jim, repeated.

I took a bite of my pineapple pizza, chewed it and it tasted… it tasted like victory.


	6. Chapter 6

The first stage in my plan was complete. Kyle believed I cared about him and he also said he was looking forward to see me the next day, he even seemed excited about the idea. It was a glorious moment and I must admit that after the betches left that night I couldn't stop watching his face when I gave him the script over and over on my laptop while Derek snored loudly in the other side of the room. There was something in his eyes that told me that there was no going back for him. That odd sheer on his eyes as if he was looking at a ghost, he was pale and yet there were his lips curved up in a shy smirk.

That night I dreamt about Kyle, I'm not sure about what was the dream but the feeling of his essence accompanying me lingered in my chest the whole night and even a couple of hours the next morning. Thought I washed the sensation along with my face later in the bathroom. That long and comfortable sleep helped realize that I was getting used to Kyle being around and I couldn't afford that, so even when I wanted to see my script one last time before he handled to Julia it didn't fit with my plans.

I told the betches to stay away from them for a while after the good deed had planted its seed in our subject's heart, and it would be betrayal to see Kyle after gaining his trust, if we wanted to win the war we needed to be careful and make our moves smooth and cleverly.

I spent half of my classes that day trying to figure out which excuse I was going to give Kyle for my sudden absence. Actually I got to snatch away Derek's notebook at couple of times to copy the notes I missed for being daydreaming about the project. It was hard sometimes, many would say that I was becoming insane and I couldn't blame them. I spent the mornings picturing places where to put new cameras to catch as many angles as possible and locations for my meetings with Kyle. On afternoons I thought about the final cut and the projecting for Mr. Perry's class finals. And on nights I thought about what to do with the video after the end of the year, and the same idea came to my mind over and over again. I wanted to upload it to YouTube and send a link to Isaac the Same way he did with me, I would give all my savings in pizzas for watching his face while he saw the video, and Kyle's too, after all that tool thought he got me in the bag.

I wasn't insane though, I was passionate. I saw beyond and was preparing myself for whatever situation that might come up in our way to use it in our advantage. My projects meant my life and I dedicated them as much spare time as I got for the sake of my art.

That Wednesday after class I was dying to know what happened with Jim, though it wasn't still confirmed if he was back in the project or no, I got a good vibe, I hadn't see his last video yet but he sort of told me about Jackson having a sister and they meeting in a clinic right when I was busy with the pizza prank. I would have watched the video but I couldn't focus, I kept thinking about missing a day of the script writing course and it made me ill, but I couldn't see Kyle. Not yet!

….

He tensed his socks and tied his shoelaces. As he climbed down of the car the intense sunrays burned his pupils. He walked into the field feeling the soft grass under his feet and his heartbeat in his soles.

_This is a stupid idea._

Most of the team was back to him in a circle surrounding a tall and chubby shape. Everyone but Jackson whose neck cocked toward him as soon as he stepped in playfield.

He waved at Jim while he just rolled his eyes. He wasn't even sure what the hell he was doing there.

Jackson patted the back of the tall man in the middle of the circle and when he tilted his head Jackson pointed straight at Jim with his index finger and suddenly Jim felt exposed. For a second he was back in high school and the football team's captain targeted him and the rest of the guys chased him down the hallways.

Back in the real world things weren't as bad as they used to, yet no one seemed to care that he was back, except for Jackson of course and he got the sight of a nod from Kyle and a wave by Garret.

"You're here" Jackson said and then smiled gallantly.

"You're the deserter?" Said the deep voice of the coach.

He was the man standing in the middle of the circle, as I said before he was a tall man with dark skin, a bold mustache and a BIG FAT BELLY! Jim did his best to choke a laugh, why the coaches were always fat? It was a rule or something like that? That was the reason they were a bunch of loser, because of those hierarchal systems.

"I'm not a deserter" Jim snapped feeling his ears burning. No one called him a pussy in his face, he gave a shit about this man or that stupid team, but before he could finish his sentence spiced with tons of snarky comments about fried food and fat asses Jackson's hand clutched Jim's shoulder and pressed the side of him against him. The air escaped from Jim's lungs and he gasped. It seemed like Jackson read his mind because then he said:

"He was sick" Affirmed the team captain. "Right James?"

Jim nodded feeling the urgency of elbowing Jackson in the guts. It was then when he noticed it, the team… was… larger. There weren't not just the Same morons of always looking at him suspiciously but… there were two new morons. One short tanned guy with a perched nose and freckled face and the other one was lanky boy with dark eyes and curly pitch dark hair who stared at him curiously as if he got a big monkey picking fleas from the top of his head. Jim squinted and then went back to the coach and Jackson catching his breath.

"Were is your schedule?" The coach demanded bossily.

Jim arched a brow, what did he mean? "I don't…"

"Your classes!" The man said loudly, he got a deep and gaudy voice. "I need your schedule for permissions on game days"

_Oh_ He thought bored, he shouldn't have come in the first place. "I… um…forgot it at home, I'll bring it tomorrow"

The coach nodded and then brought his whistle up and pouched it right below his hairy mustache.

The high pitched blast made Jim wince, why in the hell did he do that? All of them were there already.

"Everybody thirty laps!"

_Oh great! And I thought Jackson was Hitler_He thought moody as he joined the rest of the jerks in a line and as they jogged around the playing field and he kept asking himself in his insides why in the hell he was doing that.

….

As now it have become a routine for Derek, he got to the room twenty minutes before that day's meeting started, he was all sweaty for running and that Same stupid smile of superiority or proudness flashed his face making him look somewhat charming.

"I'm late I know but…" He started hastily rummaging in his drawers to pick some clean clothes.

"You need a bath" I finished for him with a mocking grin.

He rolled his eyes and darted out of the room leaving the door half-opened in his wake. I came out of my bed and closed it for him while I watched him leave, what the hell was he up to? Maybe a secret documentary project about evil gay people, the thought of it amused me.

Twenty minutes later he came in half-naked and all drenched grabbing pieces of cloth from here and there until he suddenly stopped and craned his neck toward me.

_Oh shit! My excuse._

I coughed.

"Aren't you coming?" He asked as he continued dressing up.

I looked away to avoid looking at his now muscled buttcheeks and coughed again. "I'm…not…feeling…well" I lied between pretended gasps.

He let out a sigh and then crested his brow, put his shirt aside and waddled toward me. "You want to go with a doctor? I could…"

Oh sweet and naïve Derek, I literally flushed on the sight of how caring and ingenious he could be some times, didn't he just say last week that I couldn't lie to him? Well, it seemed that I was becoming a good actor, or at least I sucked less than Kyle.

"No, and go you're late" I hurried him. "As always"

He chuckled embarrassed and went to put on his shirt. "Are you sure you will be okay?"

"Yes Charles, I'm not dying or anything I just need some rest!"

He finished dressing up and grabbed his script from the table. "Give me your script"

_Shit_He was stubborn! Oh hell that he was!

"I… no…um… I'll take it the next class"

"Come one Stiles, I won't steal it, it's me remember?" Said with a sheepishly grin.

I rolled my eyes, he was starting to become a pain in the ass.

"Actually… I forgot to print it" I lied. Yeah AGAIN!

"Really? I thought I saw it yeste…"

I shook my head. "Nope, that was something else"

He arched a brow suspiciously "Well, then print it and I'll take it"

_GOD!_

"I don't think so, it will take at least twenty minutes to print it and you're five minutes late already"

"Shit!" He jerked and then stared at the watch on his wrist. "I gotta go"

He grabbed his stuffs and went to the door when an idea suddenly popped in the back of my head and I bolted from the bed.

"Derek wait!" I yelped at his back as I quickly ran swept my hand over my desk before he tilted his head toward me.

"What?" He asked as he spun.

I sunk my face on his chest and wrapped my left arm around him while with my right one fastened the camera to the space next to the chain of his hoodie's zipper.

He squatted and then glanced down at me with an amused yet a little concerned face as if I was crazy. "What was that for?" He choked a laugh.

"I don't know" I said with a smirk. "For caring about me"

He chuckled "Stiles…"

"You're late remember?" I recalled him and then his face paled and strode off without saying anything else.

….

Jim sighed with relief when the practice was over, he wished he would have left earlier when Kyle asked the coach's permission to attend a class that night. It was so unfair! Who got classes that late night? There was something fishy about it but he got no time for any of it. He just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, he was all sticky and breathless for all the running. His lungs burned and his forehead streamed like a waterfall.

He got into the locker room without looking at any of the jackass inside, he knew what they were thinking, they were all mad because he was back and a part of him enjoyed the attention, he was the team's rockstar. The infamous rockstar, if he only were better at soccer… He tried hard that afternoon's game but… well, this new kid –the one with the big black eyes- Aidan was fast as a cockroach being chased by a cat, and it took Jim a lot of effort to keep up his pace while he passed by the rest of the team with the ball as if it was a child's game. Luckily Kyle was on his team that time and he gracefully stole the ball from the new boy and kicked right into the goal finishing the game.

When Jim took his stuffs most of the lockers were already clearing. He spent a lot of time giving false information to the coach about his classes which was kind of complicated considering that he actually didn't study in Oakwood, and yet he got to bring his schedule the next day. Gosh! Things were complicating for him a lot in matter of hours, he should have stayed home. He shouldn't have go there in the first place!

He hauled his duffel bag over his shoulder and when he came out of the locker room it was already pitch black, the coach must have turned off the lights of the playing field before leaving and now Jim was wandering in the dark, waiting for his eyes to adjust. While we waddled out he could feel like he was being observed but all he could see was dark grass at his feet that crunched with every step. When he addressed the center of the field he heard something like a struck, his heart leaped and suddenly an intense light blinded him. Jim jerked his head. The whole place was illuminated again.

"Where you think you're going rookie?" Jackson's voice said at his back.

_Rookie?_

"I'm leaving Jacky if you hadn't notice" He replied dryly and kept walking out.

"You're not going anywhere, private sessions remember?" Jackson said cheerful at his back.

How could be so chirpy after that killer session? He never got tired? Jim rolled his eyes, every cell of his body ached, he just wanted have a bath and some rest.

"You're never going to be better if we don't train" Jackson pointed out and now Jim felt his voice nearer. When he spun Jackson was right back him with his annoying smile. Why he had to smile always? Geez!

"Maybe I don't wanna be the best player in the world" Jim said with tiredness.

"Oh come on James! You're competitive, you can't stand being in the bottom"

_If you just knew_ Jim thought and chocked a mischievous laugh. "Actually I don't care being the worst soccer player ever!" He admitted.

Jackson scoffed "Oh yeah? Then why did you come back?" Jackson asked and then started moving his eyebrows stubbornly. Great now he was acting like a child.

"FYI I came back because…" _Crap_ he thought when he couldn't came up with one of his snarky replies. Actually he wasn't sure why he came back in the first place. His pulse rose and his cheeks burned. "Because you said the team needed me"

Jackson nodded. "You couldn't care less about the team"

"I came back because I thought you guys needed to fill a place in the team but now that Aidan and Kev joined you don't need me anymore"

"Aidan needs to work on his feet and Kev couldn't catch a ball in the whole day" Jackson pointed out now looking at him sternly.

"Well! I guess you guys are going to have a lot of fun in the private training sessions" Jim chuckled and spun back but Jackson grabbed him by the shoulder and made turn on his heels to face him.

"I don't think they will need my help, they will get better eventually, but you… you need all the help you can get"

"I don't need your help Jacky, you got the guys you needed to fill the empty places, now let me go" He shouted but before he could spun again Jackson's hand was already clutching him by the arm.

"This isn't about Aidan or Kevin don't you get it? I want you in the team James, I mean it, and this isn't because of what happened last night"

Jim's heart gave a lurch and he looked away irate.

"You're my friend, and I won't give up on you" Jackson affirmed at patted him in the back. "Now, give me twenty"

Jim who was still frozen on his place came back to reality and stared a Jackson as he was crazy "Twenty what?"

Jackson rolled his eyes "Laps"

"Are you crazy? Didn't you see how much I ran today?" He protested.

"I was watching actually and you didn't ran the thirties, you just made ten but the coach didn't notice"

_Oh right! You were watching._

"Now on the field! Twenty Rookie!" Jackson shouted bossily and blown a whistle he just got out of his pocket.

Jim rolled his eyes, why he has to be so stubborn? Why he couldn't just let him go?

"What if...?" Jim started.

"The more you complain the latter we're going to get out of here"

Jim sighed and went to the borderline with his head down, he couldn't believe he was actually doing that. _Stupid project, stupid Stily!_

Jackson blown the whistle again and Jim started jogging.

"Suck the breath with your nose and let it out fast from your mouth" Jackson shouted at his back.

"Why you're not running too?" Jim replied annoyed.

"I'm the coach here!" Jackson said pointing at the whistle on his hand.

"So what? Are you planning to get a big tummy like the coach's Jacky?" Jim chuckled and then started coughing as the air escaped from his lungs and wobbled.

It took a couple of minutes for him to keep the control of his breathing again. By the time he was feeling again he heard thumps at his back, and when he craned his neck at his left he saw Jackson passing by him with a mocking grin on his lips.

….

Thank god Derek brought dinner after that night's meeting because as I told you before I'm not famous by my culinary skills and I was starving by the time he got home. We ate the turkey sandwiches he brought while we chatted about that night's session. After he told me everything I regretted not going, Julia took some of the attendants and made them read a few lines of their stories and talk about them and what inspired them to write them. It would have been so funny! I wished I would have been there to see Brandon reading about that SCI-FI story –Ahem! Bad copy of star trek- he wrote. I would have laugh so hard that Julie would have probably threw me out.

After dinner, we sat on Derek's bed to work on some homework of sound production that we should deliver the next morning. When Derek opened his file I saw some videos saved in a folder called cinematography and most of them were names of old school winning award movies.

"What's that?" I asked a little scared that those might be part of some project we should deliver next week or something like it. I know I was so busy with my stuffs lately that I have neglected some of my classes but I didn't want to fail my classes, that was the last thing I would want.

"Oh that?" He said dreamy "Some cuts with the best quotes of winning award movies, I'm saving them for when we start working on the project"

"Project? Which project?" Oh crap, I was starting to feeling my heartbeat rising.

"Um… Earth to Stiles! The final project Mr. Perry talked about"

_Oh! That project_. I sighed with relief, for a second I thought I would have to rummage on some oldies a whole night to present them next week.

"I've been saving them for when we have some spare time to sit and start mixing them for that day"

_Oh! …_

"Derek… I" I started as he came back to his laptop and clicked the sound production software.

"What?" He wrinkled his brow.

"I… was thinking in something else actually" I said feeling like crap, oh god!

"What are you talking about? I've been working for months Stiles, don't tell me you don't like my idea of the history of the best academy award movies!" He complained.

"No, it's not that, I think it is a wonderful idea" I lied. Shit it was becoming a habit. "I just… I just was hoping I could work on something else" I muttered hoping he would hear me.

"What?" He said closing his laptop immediately and looking at me scornful.

I sighed and glanced down. "I'm sorry I thought I told you…"

"You have another partner?" He asked with a wounded voice.

"No! Of course not! I just…"

"Why you didn't tell me in the first place? I let Missy down because of you"

Damn it, now I felt like big fat dumpster.

"I just… wanted to do something by my own" I replied with my eyes still fixed on the mattress, my ears were burning.

"You could have told me you didn't want to work with me anymore and…"

"It's not that Derek! We are a team remember?" I affirmed with a grin rising my eyes to show him I was being sincere, what a big mistake! Now I could not only hear his disappointment but see it, cutting me deep through those pointy pool like eyes. "I just wanted to do something different, that's all"

"Well, you could have told me and I wouldn't have wasted my time, at least tell me you got something shoot already so we can start working on it and…"

"Derek…" Fuck! I was an asshole, but I couldn't tell him about the project, he would freak out and tell me that I was crazy and maybe he would be right but I had to do this.

"You don't wanna work with me don't you?"

"Is not that Derek! I just…"

"What's going on with you? You don't pay attention in class, you spend your days daydreaming and you're always avoiding my questions"

"I'm not avoiding your questions!" I contradicted offended.

"What happened with your coughing?"

_Shit!_I looked away.

"See? Now you're lying!"

"I'm not lying…I'm just" _Damn it_.

"Why can't you tell me what's going on? We're supposed to be best friends! Remember? We can tell each other anything!"

"I'm not hiding anything Derek! Alright?" I exploded, of course I was lying but what else could I have done? I had no choice.

"Fine! Forget I said anything, I better get in bed. I'm tired" He replied and took off his glasses, put his laptop on the nightstand and curled on the quilt next to me.

"Derek…"

"Good night Stiles" He muttered.

I bit my lip and came out of his bed, got into mine and kept working on my mix. It wasn't until an hour later that I heard his annoying snores and rolled my eyes. He was finally asleep. I came out of my bed and went next to his to retrieve my camera from his hoodie. Halfway back to my side of the room my stupid conscience dragged be back to Derek to take his laptop. I finished my assignment and Derek's before watching that night video, it was the less I could do for him after all the lies I was telling lately, if I hadn't upset him he would have finished his mix.

When I was done I tugged the memory of my camera and plugged it in my laptop. Put on my headphones and clicked the play button. For a second I was inside that night's meeting. Julia getting the scripts and scribbling some things in the first page of all of them. I saw a speck of Kyle's hair when Derek was delivering his but that was all. I didn't see anything else about him in the whole video, the rest just was the quoting of the lines of authors of the scripts. What a loss of time. I turned off my laptop and went to bed. It was pretty late and I needed some sleep, it was a disappointing day. I went below the quilt and lay my head on the pillow when I felt a hard surface against my scalp, I rolled on my place and dug my hand to snatch my phone, I forgot it was there. I unlocked it and gasped. There were ten missing calls and five text messages from one single Kyle Parrish… well, maybe my day wasn't as bad as I thought.

Of course Derek and I sorted out everything the next morning, besties remember? It was simpler than usual. Most of the times I screwed up things Derek didn't talk to me in days and I just grown tired of begging his pardons. This time when we were in sound production things were different as soon as he saw that I finished the mix for him, well, I felt my stomach plunge down when our eyes met and his went watery with gratefulness. All I could say was "We're a team remember?" while something bitter climbed to the back of my throat, it bugged me to hurt Derek's feelings after all the things he did for me.

Kyle's texts kept coming, at least for three days they were always the same.

"Hey Stily are you alright?" Every time I read them I chuckled but after the second night I felt a pang on guilt on my chest until I recalled that I would have been on his shoes if the things were different and I really thought he cared about me.

After one "Are you mad at me?" Text he desisted but I got the feeling that he might search for me so I started acting a little paranoid, hiding in corners and looking at my back every two seconds. When I made the pizza prank he never made it into my room but yet he knew where it was so just as caution at least for that week I asked Derek work on our homework and everything else on out of the dorm, of course I always picked places that were as far of Oakwood as possible.

In other hand during those moments alone with Derek I tried to compensate Derek for all the lies I have been telling lately, of course Derek didn't knew I desperately wanted to redeem myself and thought I just wanted to spent time with him which wasn't a full lie after all. In matter of hours things were back as they used to, before college, before Isaac. We were just two dorks talking about games and movies and books and having the best time of our lives, thought things chilled out a little that Friday when Allison joined us. it was weird to see her, when I thought about it I realized that it have been a while since the last time I saw Allison and for a moment I thought that maybe they have broken. She seemed pretty tired and miserable when she joined that afternoon in the ice cream shop, apparently she got a new job as a waiter in a restaurant downtown and was really tired after her last shift. But it didn't matter she was happy to be back with Derek after a long day and even thought I felt like the third wheel for a moment I didn't left, I didn't want to come back to the dorm and probably find Kyle curled in a sleeping bag next the door, it would have too much to bear, if he really was that desperate to see me of course, maybe he didn't care and I was just exaggerating everything. As always.

….

While I was busy sneaking from Kyle Jim got some serious things to take care of. He spent a lot of time thinking about it and even though he managed to find a fake schedule for electronic engineering to give the coach something kept bugging him deep inside. He was twenty two years old and… got nothing in life, well, saying nothing it's a little melodramatic. What I'm trying to say is that he felt like his life didn't have a real purpose –unbelievable right? - He didn't have a job or a career and yeah he was rich and everything else but… he wasn't like his brothers, he wasn't waiting for their dad to pass out to fight for his money, he wanted to independent and has his own freedom so… it was time for him to take some responsibilities and make some major changes in his life.

He applied to electronics, it was a big deal for him to leave behind all his commodities and be part of the real world, like any other human beings, of course he still had money and everything else but yet he felt less shallow and more mortal, it was thrilling for him to see the world with new eyes. So as part of this new era in his life he decided that if he really was going to be another college student he would live that one… well not exactly like because as I said before he still got money and if Jim was something it wasn't humble.

….

Saturday night, which meant Derek and I were crouched on his bed watching the thing in the woods new episode on his laptop. It was the best part of the episode, right before the cliffhanger that leaves you openmouthed and craving for more that Jim opened the door and burst in as he lived too in there.

"Hey-yo Betches" Jim called out turning on the lights.

Derek rolled his eyes and paused the streaming "Don't call me betch Jimmy" He said sternly and beckoned me with his eyes to get rid of him.

I tossed on the bed, it was so warm and puffy, I didn't want to get out of there, what the hell was Jim doing there anyway?

"Jim…" I started sending him signals that whatever happened with Jackson could wait until Derek fell asleep.

"Pack your stuffs Stily Cyrus" He said before I could finish my sentence and sat on the bed next to Derek to stare at the laptop's screen "Oh you watching that crap again" He giggled.

"You seem to like it since you recognize it" Derek snapped clutching the mattress.

"What are you doing here?" I said bored.

"Help you moving out" He explained going to my bed to start undoing my landscape's collage.

"Hey!" I called out, jolting out of bed before he screwed all my hard work.

He craned his neck toward me when I stopped him. "Moving out?" I repeated looking at him as if he was crazy.

"Yeah" He flashed a grin. "With me"

"Wow wait!" Derek sat on his bed and stared at us as if we were up to something, if he only knew.

"What are you talking about betch? Are you drunk?" I let out feeling utterly lost.

"Are you moving with him?" Derek almost accused. "What? Are you guys…"

Jim and I scowled "God no!" We laughed.

"Jim!" I started losing my patience "What's going on?"

"Do you remember that I got a lot of free time?"

Derek and I nodded.

"I thought that maybe I could start a normal college life, you know…"

"You applied here?" Derek snorted.

Jim rolled his eyes. "So what?"

There was something weird in all this, I could feel it.

"Jim, the school year is almost over" I reminded him.

"Not for engineering, the trimester just started last week" He pointed out.

I chewed my lips, was he insane? Why he was suddenly interested in studying? He was rich after all.

"Anyway I rent a place near here and…"

"You rent a place?" I said stunned.

"Oh come on Stily, you don't really expect me to live in one of this shit holes, no offense"

Derek and I stared at him as if he were ill, both of us were thinking the Same, He was insane.

"So, I thought that maybe you would want to leave behind his dumpster and come to live like the real betch you are" He giggled. "I could cook on Mondays and Wednesdays and you could do it the rest of the days" He teased as if it was the most amazing idea in the world, lazy betch. He didn't want a room a mate, he wanted a maid.

Derek Snorted.

"What's so funny nerdy muscles?" Jim snapped.

Derek rose from the bed and approached us with a sneer on his face. "Didn't you know? Stiles can't even make ice cubes by himself"

Ouch. That hurt.

"And if you hadn't notice" Derek slid his arm from the back of my neck and yanked me toward him. "He is mine" finished with a devilish grin.

I felt my heartbeat in the tips of my fingers as I stared a Jim's face in the exact time it went pale and then quickly red. They didn't say any more words. It didn't looked like an innocent teasing talk as the ones they were used to, this was different, Jim seemed pretty mad and by the hard grip of Derek's arm around me I knew he wasn't joking either. Oh God! My wet dream was two guys fighting for me… but this? This was ridiculous, they were treating me like a piece of meat, well at least they weren't literally fighting, the weird part of all this is that I kinda liked it, it made me feel wanted and important even though it was for a brief second and they weren't fighting for my love but my friendship.

Jim rolled his eyes. "Are you at least coming to see the place?" Said deflated.

I still could feel the pulsation of Jim's sharp eyes on us, it must have been harsh for Jim, considering that he wasn't used to not get what he wanted, thought I got the feeling he wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Ok, we'll go" Derek agreed and released me.

Jesus! My neck ached, he was an asshole, I couldn't believe he thought I really considered on moving in with Jim, I deserved a little of respect from both of those idiots, yet I didn't say anything.

"I don't remember inviting you" Jim replied dryly. Damn the betch got claws.

"It's okay I'll go anyway" Derek snorted and we both followed Jim to his car.

Jim's penthouse was remotely near Oakwood, I could easily walk a couple of streets and find the tall building where he rented. As I said he was in the penthouse so we took the lifter to the top floor and when the door opened I went amazed thought I wasn't sure why, I mean, it was everything Jim was, lavish and yet neat and comely. In the living room was a large designer' couch that seemed all puffy and comfortable, before it was a hearth that lit right when we stepped in and a huge TV just on top of it. The space was large, Jim's room was simple yet pretty, with even a bookshelf packed with books, damn it seemed like he really meant to become a college student after all…I…felt… proud? Of him? Was that possible? Could you say Jim and proud in the same sentence? I must be drugged for sure because it was too good to be real. And speaking of too good for being real, there were two other rooms, one was a storage that Jim filled with clothes and transformed it in the most big dresser I've ever seen –vain betch- and my room. Yup! Jim got me a big bed in a room with top to bottom windows through which you could see the whole town and crap your pants in amazement and terror, it was…so beautiful… suddenly I felt a pang of guilt in my chest, but I wasn't sure if it was because I let Jim down or because I was actually considering not doing it.

"Just imagine it betch" Jim said next to me while I stared at the big –actually tremendous- feather bed with thick quilt and fluffy pillows.

"You and me at the club, coming back to this place accompanied not by one but a full gang of hot studs"

I tried to picture it in my head but instead of imagining myself lying in that bed with the hottest guys in town I kept watching myself laying there alone because an awesome bed and luxurious penthouse in the middle of the town wouldn't make me more appealing.

"The floor sticky with…"

"Enough with the graphics" Derek chortled and I gasped, I would really wanted to stay in there with Jim, it would have probably made everything different, at least it would be easier to talk about the project without being afraid that Derek could show up anytime. But I just didn't feel right to leave my best friend alone and at the Same time it felt terribly wrong to let down Jim too, but I didn't have time to think in my imaginary conscience, the week was almost over and my break from Kyle too, it was the time to be back on business.

….

That night Jim slept like a log, the idea of a new life was invigorating, it was new and fresh start. The next morning he didn't feel like cooking so he went to a local store near his apartment and snatched a breakfast. Back in his dorm, he sat before the desk and turned on the computer. The scrolled down the news feed of his Facebook profile watching what was up to with his friends. His mom has posted a kiss and a _miss you already_on his wall. He sighed and smiled, his mom was sad when he packed up his stuffs and left but she was also proud of him while his brothers…well, they just make some jokes about him coming back in matter of days but deep down he knew they were dying in jealousy because he was proving them he was better than them.

While he scrolled down the news a picture called his attention, it was a pile of boxes but the remarkable thing about it was that Jackson posted it. Jim clicked it and many other pictures popped up. The white ceiling and floor… it reminded him of something but he wasn't sure… it was… the community center, the one for kids with cancer. Jim recalled now, so… was Jackson a volunteer after all? Those pictures were from minutes ago and many got comments from women thanking him for his hard work. There were also some pics that someone else took of Jackson playing with the kids, that smile… that beaming and breathtaking smile that he got in those pictures…was revitalizing, but it wasn't what made it so especial, it was the kids' faces, they seemed happy. Truly. Jackson was giving them hope. Jim smirked, Jackson was right there, right now doing a good…deed. The thought of it clicked something inside Jim.

_What did Stily said about good deeds?_He thought as he came out of the room. By the look on pictures he knew that those were poor kids, maybe… just maybe…he could hike around the place… and bring some of his old clothes with him.

….

I couldn't hide any longer, so after so many days without news of Kyle I finally felt like it was time to show up again out of the blue in his life. I woke up early even though it was Sunday, I recalled what Kyle once told me about how impressed I would have been to know how many people had pizza for breakfast in the morning and I thought it would be perfect as an excuse to see him.

Derek cooked last night after we came back from Jim's place and I thought that the right thing was to bring him breakfast since I couldn't even make ice cubes by myself. Asshole.

As any other Sunday, the campus was mostly empty thought as the time passed and the end of the year approached more and more people changed the hangover Sundays for study Sundays on June all the benches and trees' roots would be huddled with students from all years and careers trying to fill their minds with as much information as they could, of course I wasn't going to be one of them because I was brilliant.

The pizza place got just two costumers when I got in, a couple of girls that were chatting while engulfed a full anchovy's pizza, disgusting. My guts squirmed to the sight of it. Kyle was behind the counter and even though he tried to hide it I could see how his face brightened as soon as he saw me.

"Stily" He muttered.

I smiled casually thought I felt my cheeks burning, okay I was an asshole but it totally worth it.

"Hey" I greeted him.

"How are you?" He hurried to say. "Are you alright? I thought that maybe you were sick but went to your dorm a couple of times but it was empty"

I managed to not crack in laughs on his face. "I've been busy" I simply said as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Really? I thought that maybe… you were mad at me"

_In your face!_

I snorted "No. Why would I be mad at you?" _Despite the fact that I know about your twisted plan._

"Oh! I even called and texted you"

"Oh! Yeah?" I scowled pretending I didn't give credit to my ears. "I didn't get any" I lied taking out my phone and showing him I didn't get any new text or calls.

"How weird" He said blinking a little confused.

"Well I came to see how you were and to get a pizza"

"A pizza? For breakfast?" He chuckled.

"What's the matter?" I joked.

The place started filling while I waited for Kyle to show up with my meal. When he gave me the square box I got my wallet but he stopped me.

"This one is up to me" He said making me signs to put my card back in my pocket.

"No, I can't accept it" I replied a little embarrassed.

"Oh come on Stily! is the least I can do after all the things you have done for me" He said firmly

Reluctantly I put the card back on my wallet and let out a brief smile "Thank you"

"Don't thank me, I owe you much more" He scoffed.

I grabbed the box and started walking out, but before I got a chance to even give a step he stopped me.

"Stily… do you remember what I told you the other day?"

"I think you need to be more specific" I replied with a chortle.

"About going to the gym together, remember?"

"Oh…yeah" I said not liking where he was taking the conversation.

"Well I thought that… since Caroline found a new guy and I'll have some spare time maybe we could go together next week"

"She found a new guy uh? Good for you" I smiled.

"Yeah, I still need to train him but I think that maybe on Wednesday or Thursday I'll be finally free and we barely see each other in the writing course so I thought that maybe we could hang out more often"

_Hang out more often?_

"Um… okay" I agreed thought the idea of going to the gym was the last thing I would like to do with him.

He smiled, that chivalrous and bizarre smile that made me sick, it should have been illegal for him to aim at people with it, it was a dangerous thing, you could even believe in all his crap if you didn't know beforehand what kind of snake he was… and yet…he thought we didn't have enough time together…damn! I got a lot to think about.

….

Thanks to the GPS Jim found the community center without many issues, as soon as he stepped outside the building an odd feeling took over him. This plan of casually meeting Jackson in that place seemed like a good idea but he couldn't stop feeling like a stalker, lurking in the corners, but he had no choice it was the only way to make Jackson fall in our plan though Jim was still a little mad at him for the things he said the other day in the locker…but… now it seemed so distant to him, like it was part of another life, Jackson kept acting like the Same dump boy he once knew in the rave party. He kept pushing Jim in their private trainings but they didn't do much, just running a lot around the playing field and passing the ball, he was growing sick of it, Jackson still didn't think he was ready for trying in the goal or something new. Jim just… wanted the things to be different, he wanted to prove himself before Jackson. He wanted to show him that he wasn't the worst soccer player in the team.

After picking some old clothes from his wardrobe for the older children he decided to make a stop in a toy store and bought some cars and dolls for the younger.

He took the boxes out of the trunk of his Volvo and stepped in. It was a small building with low ceiling and white walls with posters of smiling children and happy faces all around. A nice woman opened the door for him to help him get in. At first he thought that he would find the place deserted and that it might look a little awkward to just run into Jackson in one of the hallways but instead he found it huddled with big a haste of people. In the small reception he found a group of women wearing the same white T-shirts with a logo drawn in the center. Some of them were pushing some kids' wheelchairs others were carrying balloons and giving them to the little pack of kids that surrounded them.

Behind the counter Jim found a young man that smiled happily as soon as he noticed Jim and the boxes presence in there. He must have assumed that Jim came with the women because he pointed him to follow them. Jim nodded and chewed his bottom lip, it was a dump thing but… he felt a little uneasy as if it wasn't a good idea after all. It was like he was using the community center as an excuse alone to meet with Jackson, yeah I know Jim didn't have a conscience or anything like it but… he wasn't feeling comfortable. Those thoughts kept bothering him while he followed the group in the hallways, no one seemed to have noticed his presence apart from the receptionist...maybe… maybe he still got a chance to sneak out. He could leave the boxes in the hallway, someone would eventually find the toys and the clothes. Yeah that was a good plan. He slowed his steps and then spun to get out but he didn't know there was another bunch of people at his back, he almost tripped with a man that wore the same shirt that the women at the top of the group. He helped Jim with his boxes when they almost fell.

"Were you think you're going?" The man said with a chuckle as he straightened Jim's boxes.

"Um… I need to find the bathroom" Jim lied with a shy smirk.

"Well, you were on the right way silly, keep walking straight" The man said patting him in the shoulder.

Jim sighed and followed him and his group. At the end of the corridor they found a double door, a woman opened for them and Jim found himself in a large garden. Despite the condition of the rest of the building the garden was well cared and beautiful, the lawn was green and fresh with the morning dew. At the sides the walls were covered with vines. In the back was a small park with slides, swings and seesaws. There was a little maze made with colorful plastic blocks and some tables with fruits from all kinds. Kids ran all around, others were at the play grounds, some watched the birds while a woman mimicked the sounds they made and the kids burst in laughter.

Jim followed his "_group"_ to the left side of the large garden and started stocking the boxes next a pack clowns that were playing tricks for the kids. Jim took a moment to watch how the disguised men splashed each other with little water flowers and he smirked with the sight of the kids bright faces. For a second he almost forgot that they were sick and just enjoyed their smiles but the reminder of the time tickling from them swept him and for a second he felt breathless… how… many of them…would be…

"James!" A voice accused or breathed out in amazement.

Jims' ears rang and he almost staggered with the boxes at his side. He didn't have to turn to know that Jackson was next to him. He bit his bottom lip and took a deep breath to show a face even more shocked than the one that Jackson was probably wearing.

The moment he spun and his eyes and Jackson's met he almost let out a giggle but he managed to turn it into a startled expression.

"Jackson, hi!" Jim said acting chirpier than the birds at his right.

"What are you doing here?" Jackson said slowly as if still couldn't believe what he was watching.

He was wearing one of those white T-shirts but with a different logo in the center, instead of the multicolor fingertips, Jackson's shirt got something like a book and a dove on it.

"I um…" Well and once more Jim was speechless in front of Mr. Jaunty butt. Seriously he needed to stop improvising and let me make the plans.

"You came with Kids' Fellas group?"

"What?"

Damn he was going to screw it.

"Jacky?" A little voice said below them.

Jim and Jackson glanced down and got a glimpse of a little girl of eight or ten years with a rainbow painted on her left cheek.

"Can you read sleeping beauty for us?" She asked with a big grin.

Jackson nodded and beamed her with one of his killer grins "Of course Emily" He replied cheerful.

Behind Emily Jim got a glimpse of a large group of girls, some of them wearing hats, with pale and sunken eyes that stared at Jackson curiously.

"Hey Emily! Would you like to meet someone very special?" Jackson suggested.

Emily nodded excitedly.

"This is my friend Jimmy" Jackson said pointing at him with his thumb.

_Again with Jimmy?_

Jim knelt and shook Emily's delicate and bony hand.

"He will play the evil dragon in the story" Jackson explained.

"I what?" Jim said almost hurting himself after craning his neck toward Jackson.

"Don't worry, the costume will fit you" Jackson affirmed. "Or do you have something else to do with your group?"

Jim shook his head.

"Great, he'll be the scariest dragon ever, right Em?"

Emily nodded and hugged Jackson, he hold her in her arms and then they started walking toward a red and white couch that would probably be the sleeping beauty bed while Jackson chatted with the girls and laughed loudly with the things they were saying, Jim sped up to get what they were saying and Jackson craned his neck still laughing, when their eyes met The captain's team smile fade and his fluttering eyes looked down at Jim as if for a second he couldn't recognize him, them his gaze changed back and he grinned as he always did.

….

Monday afternoon. Since I wasn't going to team with Derek for the cinematography project I let him discuss his ideas with Mr. Perry after class, the man seemed pretty indisposed, maybe because of how meticulous Derek was and he knew the boy would keep him busy for at least forty minutes. Since it was going to take a while I decided to start waddling toward my last class of that day or well… I was planning to, because as soon as the setting sun hit my eyes while I walked in the school grounds a fell a pull from the back of my shirt.

I squatted and tilted my head exalted thinking that maybe someone was going to beat the crap out of me, my instincts let me to recall the days in high school and my stomach plunged down. Thank god it was just Kyle.

"Kyle! What the hell is wrong with you?" I said angrily trying to break free from his grasp.

"Shut up, there are some guys of the team down here" He hushed me.

"So what?" I rolled my eyes.

"If they see me, I won't be able to sneak out" He explained as he dragged me against my will at the back of the nearest school building.

When he let me go, I looked up at him and felt my heart shuddering.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"I thought maybe we could hang out today"

"Kyle…we can't ditch" I started stubbornly. "I still got a class and you have to go training"

"Oh come on! Stily you're the best of your class and I'm the best of the team"

"But what if…" I started.

"They call your parents?" He sniggered. "You're twenty one remember?"

I scratched my chin, damn he could be as stubborn as Derek sometimes.

I nodded. "Okay, what you wanna do?"

"I thought that maybe we could play some bowling"

_Bowling?_Well at least it wasn't soccer. "Can't it be something that isn't that…?"

"Cool? See? I knew you were a grumpy ass"

"I was going to say far" I replied with pointy eyes. "We have to take the train and…"

"Oh come on I want you meet someone"

As soon as those words got into my system something squirmed inside me. Meet someone. I didn't notice but we were already walking, actually we were in the train station when I realized that I've been thinking the whole way there about something. He had a girlfriend and wanted me to meet her that night. I wasn't expecting that. It was too out of the blue and I still hadn't plan anything, whatever I wanted or not that night I was going to meet Kyle's Kelly, the bitch who had his heart and his kisses. That night, I was going to meet the enemy.

The train left us in the middle of the city, most of the streets that lead to the bowling were surprisingly crowded, it seemed like everybody was starting to get ready for summer even when it was still a couple of months away, but for being a Monday afternoon the clubs and the bars were being too visited. The bowling was a large building next to an abandoned basketball court. This was it.

We waited for a couple of minutes outside of the bowling, I took my time to look at the façade and at the bleached massive pins that crowned the entrance while Kyle talked in the phone. Some people came out of the double doors that lead inside as our wait extended. After twenty minutes Kyle stood from the sidewalk in which we were sitting and pointed at a car that drove toward us.

"There she is" Kyle said happily. "Stily could you please wait inside?"

"Why?" I said frowning.

"Just do it please" He hurried me.

"Um… okay" I said a little doubtful.

I spun on my heels and opened the double doors being immediately sized by the struck of the balls rolling on the floor. I whirled and without taking a look at the place I peeked through the dark glasses of the door to see the newcomer.

A familiar van stopped outside, Kyle approached it quickly and started talking to the person in the pilot's seat. The passenger's door slowly opened and a girl climbed down, she was tall, from the spot I was standing I couldn't see right her face, her brown hair was knotted in a bum, she wore a long skirt up to her knees, slippers and an ugly gray blouse. OH! MY! GOD! She was a Christian. Kyle's girlfriend was a friggin Christian! This was going to be easier than I thought.

….

While I was meeting Kyle's girl Jim was having a hard time. Things weren't going as expected to him. Since he applied a week later than expected. He already lost a lot of classes, his parent's money and influences couldn't sneak him out of all the troubles that implied getting late in his first day. In Oakwood Jim wasn't a Taylor, he was just another student with the same issues than everybody else. Since he started college several years after finishing high school most of the things he have learned were already out of his mind, he found himself lost in the classes, asking dump question and feeling like a loser. He loved fixing electric devices and making his own gadgets but now it seemed like all his work in previous years was just child game. Next week he got his first exam and he didn't even want to think about it. Maybe his brothers were right…maybe he wasn't going to make it to the end of the trimester.

But his classes weren't the only thing troubling him. Kyle decided to skip that day's training and even when Jackson was the captain everybody agreed that nobody was better than Kyle in the playing field, and with their next game just a week away the coach was in pretty bad mood. He spent half of the day yelling at all of them and making Jim's life miserable for not being able enough to block a ball than went straight to him and hit the goal, he was so mad! It wasn't his fault, it was Kev's who was a crappy goalkeeper.

And apart from everything else, Jackson was pretty quiet in their private training, for someone as comely as him, that wall of silence was making Jim feel uncomfortable.

Jim's stamina rose in matter of days and now he didn't have to pretend being running the coach's thirty laps. He could actually do fifteen without whining like a little girl. Now in that night's private session he jogged in the darkness listening to Jackson's hard thuds next to him. The coach was an ass to him to because of Kyle and Jim felt sorry for him and even though he thanked that for once Jackson was leaving hear his own thoughts he was starting to miss his relentless ramble.

In the sixteen lap he couldn't take it anymore. "Shut up Jacky you're freaking me out" He joked.

"Uh?" Jackson simply said snapping back to reality, Jim didn't have to look at him to know that Jackson have been lost in his thoughts.

"What are you up to? Why so serious?"

"Umm… Nothing" Jackson giggled. "It is just something that have been bothering me"

"What?" Jim said interested.

"It is just… I don't know, it was kind of weird to find you in the center yesterday you know?"

Jim's heart skip a beat, shit Jackson found the truth. He stopped to halt and spun to face Jackson.

"I don't know… suddenly you're everywhere" Jackson smiled as he stopped too.

_Shit_

"I um… I just thought that I could do something nice for the kids and…"

"That's the thing Jimmy" Jackson chuckled. "Every time I think I finally know who you are you do something that changes the idea I got of you"

Jim giggled. "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Of course you do, sometimes you act all selfish and rubbish and then you act all protective and selfless, I can't figure out how your mind works"

"I'm not a circuit Jacky" Jim laughed.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Alright, keep running rookie or else you're do twenty more"

Jim sighed with disappointment and turned on his heels. "If you think I'm that good why you keep punishing me with this shit?" He demanded.

"What are you talking about?"

"We don't do anything related to soccer Jacky we just run and pass balls, we got a game next week"

"And since when you care about the team?" Jackson shot wryly.

"And since when you think I'm a good person?" Jim replied with a smug face.

"Alright" Jackson gave up and beckoned him to follow him to the middle of the field where the ball awaited for them. "I'm gonna teach you how to steal a ball.

Jackson put his feet on top of the ball and started rolling it slowly.

"That's easy" Jim said confident and lumbered toward Jackson but the team's captain effortlessly dodged him with a simple turn.

Jim cursed in his insides.

Jackson chuckled. "What did you say?"

Jim glared at him and came back to the game. Jackson's feet continued on the ball, Jim looked at his leg how it slowly moved to Jackson's left, it was his opportunity. Jim attacked again and… nothing happened, he just ended on the floor facing a self-sufficient Jackson.

"Since when you're so cocky?" Jim said angrily.

"I'm not, I'm just better than you"

That was it! Jim jerked up and tried, and tried, and tried… but the result was always the same, there was no way he could beat Jackson in something as basic as snatching a ball, he was a loser and Jackson a jackass. He was done! So done with it!

Jackson laughed. "Don't be mad, I'll help you, come here"

Gritting his teeth Jim stood again and stepped in front of Jackson.

"Now, don't look at the feet they are treacherous, always look at the eyes there's the trick"

_The eyes? What did Stily say about eye contact?_

"The eyes?" He said now aloud.

"The eyes Jimmy, you can lie with anything you want, but you will never be able to lie with the eyes"

"So… you're saying that no one can't lie to you?" Jim sniggered, if that moron only new the truth.

"They can try" Jackson smirked.

Jim bit his bottom lip.

"That's why I'm so picky with my friends, I don't trust everybody, I wouldn't have offer you this private sessions if I didn't trust you"

"Oh Jacky please… you're just doing this because you feel guilty for judging me wrong"

"Of course not" Jackson said hesitantly and Jim could see his cheeks reddening, maybe Jim couldn't read eyes as good as Jackson but he knew he was lying.

"I like you James, I really do" Jackson muttered and Jim guts whirled. "Now come here"

Jim closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then then fixed his glance on Jackson's blue eyes. He didn't see a shit. Jackson was lying about it which was ironic by the way.

"When you're ready, try to take the ball" Jackson hissed.

Jim kept looking into his eyes, feeling some uneasiness deep inside, he wasn't accomplishing anything he was just… doing something that felt wrong, he felt wrong, he shouldn't…do…but there was something, he could see some…intention? It was like…left maybe?

He lumbered at Jackson's left, the team's captain turned but Jim was faster and snatched the ball before Jackson got a chance to dribble. Jim laughed hard and tried started taking the ball to the goal but felt a grasp on the hem of his shirt, he crouched and craned his neck as his ran away from Jackson who was laughing as hard as him.

"Let me go" He said gasping. Hauling air in his lungs.

"No" Jackson replied tugging harder.

Jim spun and Jackson tripped with his feet. They rolled on the ground, the grass tickling Jim's cheeks and eyelids as he chuckled until he laid on his back. Jackson on top of him quickly pinned his arms to the ground with his hands. Jim glanced up gasping. Jackson stared back at him breathless too.

"That's cheating" Jim said with a groan.

"Not if the coach's does it" Jackson replied with a mischievous grin.

"I don't see any coach around" Jim laughed.

Jackson expression hardened a little "Oh yeah?" He said pretending to be hurt.

Jim chewed his lips.

"I think you're going to run fifty laps now that you…" Jackson's voice trailed off and released Jim.

Jackson's grin faded as his eyes went Jim's back. He sat and craned his neck. "We'll gonna have to continue later Jimmy" He said as Jim stared at Barbie. Well, it wasn't Barbie but a human version of the doll. Long legs straight blond hair, cherry lips and a blank expression, it was the beautiful girl Jim have ever seen, She stood there between the layers of light and darkness washing her while she waited for her boyfriend to grab his stuffs to join her, it seemed like that night it wasn't going to be Jim who drove Jackson home.

….

After the van left Kyle and his girl held hands to the entrance, I felt something bitter scorching the back of my throat, the proximity in them…

They opened the door and I got to hear a little of what they were chatting on their way in.

"I don't know where he went now, when I woke up yesterday he was gone and there was a note on the fridge telling me to go with my aunt" She was saying as they stepped in.

"I freaked out when I saw her Van" Kyle chuckled. "We should make a party since your dad is out of the town"

She gave him a little punch in the arm. Wow! That was way too much for one of those teenage nuns.

"I hope he comes back home soon" She said with sadness.

"Hi" I said a little uneasy and uncomfortable when they stopped in front of me.

She bore her brown eyes on me and… "Oh my god! Look at you!" She said in a high pitched cry that almost let me deaf. "You're cuter than I imagined!"

And with that stunningly weird statement her hands came to my cheeks and she started squeezing them.

I stepped back awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, I'm Kristie" Kyle's bitch said with a grin.

Okay she was crazy like I expected but not the kind of crazy I was used to, like Kelly who was a crazy bitch.

"I'm Stiles" I replied with a pretended grin.

"I know silly. Kyle told me everything about you!" She said happily poking my nose with the tip of her finger.

_Yeah? I wonder what he told you_I thought bitterly.

"I'll be right back" And with that last sentence she just left to the bathroom at the other side of the room.

I wanted to say _what the fuck?_ To Kyle but I didn't want to be rude or else I would ruin everything, I got to keep it cool and pretend I liked her to later destroy their relationship slowly.

But with Kristie… well, things were complicated, because when she was around the unexpected happened. Why do I say this? Well, when she came out of the bathroom I thought she was someone else. The ugly blouse was replaced by a short strapless one adjusted to her boobs, now she was wearing some make up but not enough to look like a whore, she looked just fine. The skirt was replaced by a denim one way too short! Now I could see her long and silky legs that ended into a pair of pointy high heels. Now she looked like the bitch I was expecting to see.

"Finally" She said rolling her eyes as she unloosed the knot of her hair. "It was so hot in that robe"

Kyle shot me a funny glance. I smiled.

"So are you ready for the game?" She said reaching Kyle to bit his lips. Gross!

We came to the middle of the place, there were at least thirty lines, and many people playing happily. We went to the counter and grabbed our shoes and balls, all the time I couldn't detach my eyes from Kristie, there was something about her that was bugging me, I wasn't sure if it was her hops as we approached or line or the way she looked at me as if I were her friend or whatever but it made me feel sick.

We sat in the booth.

"Kristie" Kyle urged her to take her ball and start.

"Go you first" She offered.

"Ladies first" Kyle said gallantly.

"Exactly that's what I said" She replied with a short and sharp grin.

I had to make an effort to not burst in laughs.

Kyle went first and while he was throwing his ball she disappeared. Minutes later she sat next to me handling me a beer. Kyle just knocked six pins.

"So, how are your movies?" She asked.

"They are you know…fine"

"Oh come on Stily…"

_Stily? Really? She too?_

"I saw the movie Kyle and you did, it wasn't fine it was awesome!" She snapped taking a huge gulp of her beer. Okay maybe she wasn't Christian at all.

I blushed. "Thanks" Wow I didn't know Kyle brought his girl to the theater that day.

"And how you guys met?" I asked trying to keep up the conversation as Kyle did his second shot.

"Um… you know, I was a party and I was bored as hell so I dared everybody in the party that no one could drink more than I and at the end it was just Kyle and me, I was so wasted!" She laughed as if she recalled the funniest thing in the word. "But in the end I felt sorry for him so I pretend I couldn't drink more so I let him win" A mischievous grin escaped from her lips. "But don't tell him or it will hurt his feelings"

I chocked a laugh.

"I think is your turn" She said pointing at the Kyle who came with some disappointment in his eyes. Ha! he was a loser what he didn't know is that I was the best bowling player ever, well, at least best than Derek. If Derek only were there, I bet it would have been funnier, I wondered if he was looking for me.

I grabbed my ball slowly stepped on the polished wooden floor, aimed at the pins, arched my arm back and threw the ball to the center. When the ball reach the top of the line it turned a little in the left and only knocked seven pins. In my second try I hit one, well eight pins it wasn't bad at all, it was better than Kyle's six.

"Your turn" I said haughtily to Kristie who jerked up and staggered in her way to grab her ball, the weight of the ball plunging half of her body down.

"Damn, it is heavy" She complained. "Ok ladies, we're going to do it this way, the losers will buy the dinner for the winner, alright?" She said arching a suggestive brow thought it was hard considering all the effort she was doing to get the ball up.

Kyle and I exchanged glances and then looked back at her and nodded.

Kristie when to the shooting line and with a flick of her wrist all the pins were down and the screen on top of us was started shining with a bouncy red capital x.

She let out an annoying high pitched cry and then started doing celebration dance in the middle of the playing area.

"Yeah how's that we do it bitch!" She said between little hops of joy. "Beat that losers!" She laughed hard.

Oh no we were so screwed!

Kyle and I exchanged glances again in silence and then burst in laughs too, oh no! I was laughing! Genuinely laughing! Kristie was… cool… I… liked her… oh crap! She should be a bitch, but not this kind of cool bitch! I couldn't like her, I couldn't or else… how was I going to get rid of her?


	7. Chapter 7

It was an awesome night. We talked about everything and laughed a lot which only made me feel worst because Kristie was a really cool person and the thought of turn Kyle against her not only seemed pretty bitchy from me but also almost impossible. They were the perfect couple so I needed to find out if there were any cracks between them and how I could exploit them even though that would probably make me the worst person ever!

We split in the train station. Kyle had to take Kristie back to her horrible aunt's house before ten, so after crashing my bones with a hug –damn she was strong!- we said goodbye and I took my train back home feeling happy because of the night I just had. While I was in the train staring at the passing lights of the buildings below me I couldn't help thinking about Derek and Allison. There was something odd about how things worked with Kyle, Kristie and me. I mean, when I met Isaac and yeah you know I hated Kelly so much but despite that there were other reasons why I felt uncomfortable near them, because I felt like the third wheel. Now with Derek and Allison things were kind of different because we could hang out and everything and laugh about each other jokes but it still felt like I was the third wheel again and yeah I was the third wheel after all but with Kyle and Kristie…things were different I just… didn't feel like an stranger standing in the middle of their stuffs I felt disturbingly comfortable as if I was part of a trio like Harry, Ron and Hermione…and you know what? I liked that.

That thought kept bugging me until I made it into the campus, the more I liked being part of Krileyky –Yup another ship name!- the more I understood that things could…maybe…slipping…out of my hands and I couldn't afford that. So, I shook my head as I opened my dorm's door because I needed to focus on what really mattered and unfortunately Kristie couldn't be part of that equation.

"Hey!" Derek said from his bed. He was sitting on it with his legs crossed and his laptop resting on top of them. "What are you doing here?" He frowned as he took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Um…" I started sarcastically. "I live here remember?"

He chuckled.

"I know… but…I thought you were back in your home" He explained thoughtful.

"Back home?" I replied without getting what he was saying.

"Oh don't you know?" He asked and then grimaced as if he just swallowed a bitter pill.

My heart quivered. "What? What happened Derek? Did something happened to my parents?" My voice hitched and suddenly I was standing in a morgue identifying their bodies. My bottom lip started trembling.

"Wow Easy!" Derek said getting out of bed with his hands up. "Nothing happened to them… they just are having….problems you know? Again" He looked away uncomfortably.

I gasped. Oh no! This shit again? Really? "Did my mom called you?" I said embarrassed as I tugged out my phone searching for missing calls from her.

"Actually…it was my mom" He said setting his jaw. "You know…sometimes they yell pretty high and… well…you know that my dad has his…"

Oh I felt so embarrassed, I couldn't believe them! It had been years since the last time they had an arguing, what could have possibly happened this time? I felt responsible and I wanted to call Derek's mom and apologize because I knew how hard Mr. Matthews' disease was and if she called Derek it must have been because she was pretty concerned about him.

I closed my eyes and sucked a breath. "It's your dad alright?"

"He is fine" Derek replied not too convincingly. "But…"

"I know…I have to talk with them, did you mom mentioned the topic of the fighting?"

"Jesus no! Stiles are you suggesting that my mom was eavesdropping?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not! I just… never mind I'm sorry" I replied sighing with disappointment after that cool night I couldn't believe how my parents screwed everything that easily.

I kicked off my shoes and went to bed.

"Aren't you going to eat?" He asked pointing at a plate on my desk. I sat on my bed and stared at it. Derek made dinner again. That night he prepared smashed potatoes, grilled chicken and some boiled vegetables. My stomach was full because of that night's hamburgers but Derek worked really hard on it and I didn't want to look ungrateful so I forced myself to engulf it in silence.

"Where have you been by the way?" He asked now scornful as he sat back on his bed.

"I…went out" I said casually.

"You missed a class Stiles" He pointed out rolling his eyes.

"I know I was just tired and I needed a break so I hanged out with a couple of friends" Well this wasn't a complete lie, I was starting to get sick of lying to him so maybe… even though I couldn't tell him all the truth a half-true wasn't as bad as a full lie right?

"Yeah? That's funny because I saw Jim in the soccer field on my way here"

"I wasn't with Jim or any of the betches…I was… with other friends"

"Other friends?" He chuckled.

"What?" I said defiantly as I finished that night's second dinner.

"Nothing… I'm just curious" He laughed. "About this friends of yours"

"You don't believe me" I accused.

"I do…it's just weird to see you talking to another human being that isn't me or one of the whores"

"Betches Derek and are you suggesting that I'm a misanthropist?"

He shook his head. "I'm just messing with you Stiles" He chuckled. "What if we watch a movie or something?"

That was it? No chastising for skipping a class? Not going to bed early after a long arguing with me about how bad is ditching?

_A movie?_ I thought frowning and then I understood. Derek was trying to keep me busy from thinking about my parents. Crap! He was a real teddy bear! I mean, I tried to not think about it but when I was eight or so maybe less the arguing started because as I told you my mom can't have more kids and my dad wanted a girl actually he wanted a girl from the beginning, and I remember that my mom started talking that maybe they could adopt and my dad said it wouldn't be the Same because he wouldn't be able to actually feel like this hypothetical girl' father. My mom said he was wrong and of course he was but I kind of understood his point, he was frustrated because he was scared of not loving her enough and at the same time he made my mom feel like shit for not being able to get pregnant again. So in matter of days my house became hell! Small things like too much sugar in the morning coffee ended up with yells and my mom locked in the bathroom crying. In those days…if it wasn't for Derek's loving and awesome family, well, I would have ended in an asylum. That was before Derek's dad went sick so in those days he used to take us out to parks, ice cream shops and all sort of awesome places while Mrs. M talked to my mom.

When I thought things had settle the yelling started again and I jumped the fence and knocked the door by nights so I could slip in Derek's bed. And that was what he was trying to do now, he was metaphorically offering me his bed. But I wasn't eight years old anymore. I was a grown up and I didn't need his pity I just needed to give my parents hell for acting like kids and making Derek's parents uncomfortable in their own home.

I shook my head. "I'm pretty tired actually" I smiled and turned back to my bed.

"Um…ok" He replied discouraged. "I'm exhausted too so…I guess I'm going to sleep"

"Good night Derek" I said as I got below the quilt and he did the same in his bed.

"Good night Stiles" He yawned.

I tossed in bed thinking about my stupid parents and their stupid fights, I couldn't believe them. I felt so embarrassed! I rolled onto the bed countless times and even though I was a little sleepy I just…I couldn't…drift off. I kept thinking of them yelling at each other, of the muscles in my mom's neck so tensed and my dad's face all red and how much I cried scared in my room, they loved me I knew they did…but…did they love each other?

I sat on my bed. Derek was back to me but there was a large empty space at his left. I gasped holding my now throbbing head. I stood and reluctantly slipped into his mattress. Derek knew I didn't want to admit that my parent's fights still hurt me. I knew he wasn't asleep because he wasn't snoring…but if he could pretend he was asleep so I could have at least a short nap without nightmares the less I could do was to follow him in his game and pretend I did sleep well. The funny thing is…that I actually did.

By the morning the whole wrestling parents issue was out. It took me a couple of minutes to realize what was I doing wrapped in Derek's mattress when I woke up. But I washed away my parent's problems as soon as I got out of bed and got ready to get to class. I let Derek slept a little longer while I went to the bakery store and got him a fruit salad for his breakfast, I knew how much dedicated he was to his working out on the mornings and as soon as I saw the clock I realized that he didn't go to the gym that morning and it probably was my fault. While I was getting him breakfast I couldn't help noticing the steaming and just made caramel apple bars that were behind the counter so I snatched a few and went back to the dorm before our first class started.

When I opened the door I found Allison sitting on Derek's bed and he wasn't anywhere on sight.

"Hey" I said putting the bags on Derek's desk and tugging out the ham sandwich I bought for me.

I took a bite and stared at her.

"Hey Stiles" She replied a little drowsy.

"Rough night uh?" I said with my mouth full what made her grimace. I chuckled inside.

"Yeah, I got the night shift and it was awful. Two kids puked on me" She said with tiredness on her voice.

I took a sip of my orange juice. "Are you hungry? I didn't know you were coming but I got Derek plenty fruit salad, you know how much he eats"

She shook her head. "No it's fine, I just ate" She explained right when the door opened and Derek got in wearing just a towel around his waist.

"Hey! I thought you left me and went to class by yourself" He said happily.

"No… I was getting us breakfast" I replied pointing at the bag on his desk.

"Thanks" He turned on pulled on his briefs and then went to his desk to take the fruit salad from its bag. He smiled when he saw it and then peeked through the gap in the other bag.

"Stiles!" He said resentful. "How could you bring apple bars?" I could see it in his eyes, he was eager to give them a taste.

"What? What's the matter?" Allison frowned.

"Yeah, what's the matter? They are your favorite" I replied mischievously though when I saw them I wasn't planning on tempt him with them, I just wanted to do something nice.

"No! They aren't his favorites" Allison laughed. "His favorites are the mini pineapple cakes" She pointed out.

"No. Those are your favorites" Derek chuckled.

Allison looked away embarrassed.

"It seems like someone isn't doing her homework" I laughed. Of course that the caramel apple bars were Derek's favorites. Hadn't she ever smelled him? He smelt like cinnamon and ripe apples from mid-October, right when the trees are naked and the air is brisk and cold. Autumns always reminded me of Derek. He loved the caramel apple bars and at some point I loved them too because they reminded me of him.

"Well, maybe I don't know what his favorite dessert is but I know parts of him that you'll never know" She giggled looking at me with a devilish and suggesting grin.

_Oh Sweet Allison if_ I thought. I was tempted to tell her who used to bath with Derek before she even learned how to spell naked, but I thought it would be a pretty bitchy thing to do.

"Oh come don't tell you're jealous of Stiles" Derek joked taking a piece of apple of bar on his mouth and chewing with a dreamy face while he put on his tight pants.

"Well, kind of" She admitted. "I don't know sometimes I feel like he knows you better than me" She blushed without daring to look at any of us.

"Come one Allison! He is my best friend, it has always been us since I can remember" He tried to mediate with her.

"Yeah I know…but sometimes is annoying you know?"

Derek chuckled and surrounded her with his arms. "Are you kidding? Are we having a arguing because of stupid desserts?" He laughed.

She laughed.

I laughed…and then… an idea came to my mind. I knew how the operation break up was going to start. With whipped cream and cherries on the top.

….

Well maybe I had things under control, but Jim wasn't as lucky as me. He fell from his bet on Wednesday morning, he got late at class and unfortunately he didn't do well on his exam because after coming out of it he was pretty sure he misread some things and it was too late to change the results he got. Damn he was having a hard time, he studied all night for that test and things didn't end up as he expected and maybe… maybe it was all Jack's fault.

Jim couldn't concentrate in the whole night. He kept thinking about Jack and his girl. Why she came looking for him? Did they have a date that day and Jack forgot about it? If it so, that meant that Jim was doing a really good job. In other hand what if she was there because Jack asked her to pick him up because he didn't want Jim to drive him home anymore? Well, it meant that things weren't going as good as expected and it was hard to choose between those two options because let's face. I had only see a bit of Jack in the videos and I went to the same conclusion that Jim was reaching at that moment. Jack was hard to read.

And that's how Jim ended up failing on his first exam, yeah I know it wasn't that serious he would still have a lot of them before the trimester ended but he hated the idea of being the dump of the class. In high school he was the motherfucking gay god who paid back the football team for messing with him.

And here is the thing. Sometimes trying to take down the Hhbs –horrible human beings- could be stressful, you could get to be so committed with the project that you would forget that you didn't actually like them and that they were asses deep inside. And that was what happened with Jim. He utterly enjoyed that private training session and plus he spent the night thinking about Barbie and her for sure fake blonde hair. At least now he knew that he did wrong and was back in the right path. So that night he decided to start his research about the girl and this is how things turned out:

"So…." He started casually as Jack and he ran. Despite of how wrong he was doing in his classes. His stamina kept popping up and now he could run and talk and even endure almost the twenty laps. That was great!

"So…what?" Jack asked frowning next him.

"You have been a little quiet today" Jim affirmed. "Someone had a pretty good night" He giggled.

"What do you mean?" Jack arched a brow.

"You know…" He threw the bone waiting for Jack to catch it up. Unfortunately Jack wasn't just charmingly naïve. He was kid naïve.

"I don't get it"

"Wasn't the girl from the other day your girlfriend?" Jim asked.

"Beverly?" Jack said thoughtful. "Oh yeah! She is"

_Beverly? How original_ Jim rolled his eyes.

"I thought so" Jim added. "So… she is pretty" Damn! Pretty…wasn't a straight word. He should have said something like _Damn dude she is hot_ –remember to use a hunky dump voice while you read that! - That was what a normal guy would say anyway.

"Yeah she is" Jack agreed and kept running.

That was all? Jim needed more information, the least he wanted was to ask Liam's his help in something as stupid as following her steps.

"How did you guys met?" Jim said minutes later when they were practicing stealing the ball. Luckily bringing up the subject again would distract Jack and it would be easy for him to snatch the ball.

"Who?" Jack frowned.

"Beverly and you"

Jack took a moment to think what gave Jim a chance to steal the ball from him and kick right to the goal, unfortunately he failed! Which was embarrassing to tell because they were almost inside it.

"I don't remember" Jack chuckled. "I think it was on day care"

Jim whistled. "That's a lot of time"

Jack nodded. "Our moms have been friends their whole lives so…you know they expected us to be a couple" He said taking the ball and running away with it.

Jim followed him to the other side of the camp trying to snatch the ball away.

"What do you think of the rookies?" Jack asked.

"Rookies?" Jim repeated not getting what he was saying. His mind was still with Beverly and the fact that they have been basically betrothed since their birth, it was going to be hard to get in the middle of them.

"You passed the ball to Aidan in the game today" Jack pointed out moving his legs too fast for Jim and turning at his left to resume his running toward Jim's goal.

"So what?" Jim said not getting the point.

"I was free. We lost the game because Kyle took the ball from him"

"Yeah but Aidan was nearer the goal" Jim explained.

"I got more chance than Aidan, everyone was over him" Jack explained and then stopped and beckoned Jim to do so. When Jim did he scratched his head in a thoughtful manner.

"I…guess I thought….that since he is good he could handle them, even Kyle"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Even Darren is better than Aidan, James" He chuckled.

"No… I have seen him, he is really good actually"

"Look James. This game, isn't about friends okay? Just because you like someone doesn't mean that you're going to let down your best choice for them, understood?"

Jesus! Why he was making such big deal of it?

"Okay, I'm sorry I guess" He said with frustration. See what I mean when I say that Jack was hard to read? Sometimes he could be puppy like cute, and sometimes he could be an asshole.

Jack quickly spun and kicked the ball toward Jim's goal. "I almost forgot…never get distracted" Jack smirked mischievously. Damn he was A ASSHOLE! "That's all for today"

Jim took the ball on his hand and started walking to the locker room to grab his stuffs while Jack popped open a bottle of water and poured it almost empty on his head.

"So how long have you been together?" Jim asked bringing the subject back again. He just hoped Jack didn't grow tired of him.

"What do you mean?"

"Beverly and you" Jim explained looking away.

"Three years"

"Wow! That's a lot of time"

"Yeah… actually her family has been bothering me for a while about getting married, it is scary you know? I mean I…" Jack suddenly stopped and turned toward Jim scornful.

"What?" Jim said arching a brow.

"You seem pretty interested in Beverly"

_Shit!_Jim thought, well actually he wasn't interested in Beverly but Beverly and him.

_Think fast betch_ He needed to make a choice. How to act? He knew what that meant. Jack thought that Jim liked Beverly, and he knew how it worked, straight guys would be like –remember using the hunky voice- _Damn dude! I think she is hot… I would fuck her so hard that they will hear her in the whole county._But of course that wasn't Jim, what should he do? If I was there I would have told him to act as straight as possible but of course I didn't know Jack as good as him.

"I'm just curious that's all"

Jack nodded. "For a moment I thought you would say something stupid like you wanted to kiss her or something else" Jack joked.

Please! Could someone slap him? Kiss her or something else? Really? He was a frigging dork! A very cute one by the way.

"You know what?" Jack started with an eerie glow on his eyes, there had been a while since the last time Jim saw it and almost forgot how it was. "We should all hang out one day, I'm sure she would like you as much as I do"

Crap! How could he just come out with one those comments all out of the blue? _I'm sure she would like you as much as I do_… did he really think that Jim was that stupid? Oh come on! He was messing with the biggest betch of whore town, you couldn't mess with Jim it would be like trying to extinguish a fire with fuel. And as me Jim didn't like Jack sudden affirmations, maybe he still was a little green on the girls' topic but an idea came to his mind while they finished their walk to the locker room. Jack was too self-confident, he thought he got everything anyone could want in life. So he needed to make him crumble, and some praises was all he needed to do so.

….

Do you remember you thought that things were cool in my life? Well, think twice.

It was Wednesday which meant that it was script writing course yay! It had been two days since the last time I saw Kyle and I had no news from him so I was looking forward to see him and start with my idea to take down his relationship. The bad news is that Derek was…roll drums…late! Okay things were starting to get weird with him, I felt tempted to ask him what the hell he was up to but I got the feeling he was going to avoid the question.

Anyway I had to wait for him to get into the dorm and shower, then we headed to that night's meeting. It was a pretty interesting night. Julia started talking about how important is for writers to have some notions of acting. According to her many times actors aren't quite sure of what a screenwriter wants to express with a specific word so sometimes it is his or her work to show them what they want to express because as someone –whose name I don't remember right now- once said "There is no such thing as synonyms" but of course most of the time it was actually the director's work to explain the characters' emotions to their actors so…so even though I kinda knew that already I learned a thing or two with some advices she gave us.

But things turned interesting when she suggested a quick exercise. She was going to pick a random script from the pile she received last week and then three persons chosen by her were going to act it in front of everybody. Two were going to act some scenes while the other was going to be the director and give them his or her thoughts about how they would develop the story.

I was so thrilled! I looked at Derek two rows away and winked at him, I wished she picked us, we would be terrific! And if she decided to use my script…. Damn! It was going to be the best thing ever! When she was rummaging through the scripts my phone buzzed on my pocket, I tugged it out. It was a text from Kyle.

"You and me? What do you say?" I craned my neck toward the last seat in the left row and smirked. Oh please Kyle you sucked at acting as much as a toddler sucked a breast.

Unfortunately Julia didn't call me or Derek, thank god she didn't call Kyle either. Instead she picked Missy as director, a girl from engineering and the coder's living wallpaper. You know the guy I talked you about, the one who not just me but everyone couldn't remember his name. But things turned interesting when she handled Missy the script and then she started giving them her thoughts about it.

"Anne…we are here because we are concerned about you" The living wallpaper said and my heart skipped a beat. Yeah I think you have figured it out by now! They were using my script! They were using my fucking script! Take that Brandon!

And that's how they started. I had to choke my laughs a couple of times because those morons didn't get my characters' emotions and who could blame them? I was awesome after all but of course I must admit that I wouldn't have written such terrific story if it wasn't for Derek's help.

While they acted Julia gave us her own thoughts about the acting and asked us to speak our own opinions aloud, sadly she didn't ask mine or else… well she would have probably take me out for being so honest about how awful they played. Even Kyle was better than then. The good news is that Missy was directing or else the crowd would have thought that my script was a comedy instead of a mystery psychological drama.

Julia tried another three trios and then the meeting finished. When I was packing my stuffs I heard Julia's voice calling random names aloud. Why was she doing that? I saw how bit a bit the people started surrounding her. And then she called Derek's name and my heart quivered, what did she want with Derek? And more weirdly with…

"Kyle Parrish" She spoke and then I turned to one of the girls that was already coming back.

"Hey!" I called and she craned her neck.

She was tall and fat, her long black her was up to her waist and her face full or zits.

"Why is she calling out people?" I asked frowning.

"Oh! I thought everyone else left already" She said a little embarrassed.

I craned my neck and I saw that most of the attendants were still there looking at us expectantly.

"She didn't want to upset anybody but there were some scripts that she actually liked and she gave us this brochures" She said handling the colorful pamphlet to me.

Before I got the chance to start reading it she started talking again with proudness in her voice. "She thinks they are good enough to compete in the winter film festival!" She said excitedly.

"Congratulations!" I said to her and forced a smile while I felt a bitter taste in the back of my throat. What the hell? My script was awesome! Why she didn't call me and…Oh fuck! She called me! It is just that…she thought my name was Kyle Parrish. Great! Anyway when Derek get to the room I was going to read all the brochure and oh hell that I was going to compete in that winter festival and better yet…I was going to win it.

I waited for Derek for at least twenty minutes and he kept talking to Julia along with Kyle, Missy, Brandon and other three. So at the end I grew tired of waiting and waddled back to my dorm picturing the stage, the judges watching my movie and the award in my hands…but… the best of all was my name in the newspaper and magazines. Gosh it was going to be great!

I went to my dorm and quickly ran to my bed and opened my laptop, I couldn't wait for Derek any longer I needed to know as much of this festival as possible so I decided to google it and that is when Derek opened the door and then slammed it shut at his back.

I craned my neck. "Jesus Derek what's going on with you?" I said chortling.

He glared at me. "Who the hell is Kyle Parrish?"

My guts squirmed to the sound of Kyle's name on Derek's lip, it sounded weird and alien. As if they were two different worlds that suddenly collided without any warning.

I bit my lip to not let it wobble. "I think he is in the course" I pretended being thoughtful. A half-true. God bless the half-truths.

"So, you don't know him?" He said furious.

"Derek just calm down alright?" I said trying to appease him.

"Why did you give him the script?"

_Oh shit!_

"I…I didn't…"

"Don't lie to me! You're lying again!" He roared furious. "Who is he?"

"He is just a friend" I said losing my patience. Jesus! Why he was acting like a jerk?

"Just a friend?" He broke in snarky laughs. "You think I'm stupid? I saw the way you looked at him when god knows what he texted you!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I replied furious.

"NO!" He shot angrily. "What the hell is wrong with _you?!_ You're doing it again! That Isaac crap all over…didn't you learn anything?"

"Derek please! There is nothing going on between Kyle and me ok? We're just friends I promise!"

"Yeah, that's what you said about Isaac and look how things turned out"

"God Derek! Can you please trust me? I'm telling you the truth he just my friend, I don't likehim _that_ way"

"I can't trust you Stiles! I'm sorry" He said chilling out a little. "Every six months you show up with some random guy and you end up heartbroken and who is the moron who has to take care of you? Uh?"

"Are you calling me a slut? There hadn't be any more guys… just Isaac, and who the hell asked you to take care of me?!" I growled furious. Who in the hell he thought he was to talk to me that way?

"You're not getting it" He shouted. "I'm worried about you, you skipped a class on Monday to hang out with him, it always starts that way you drop your classes, daydream the whole and before you know it… you're cutting down your veins" He let out now calmly.

Ok he stepped over the line. "You have no right" I replied bitterly. "It happened once! I wouldn't be so stupid to do that again!"

He scoffed.

"Are you mocking at me?"

He sighed with frustration. "It's not that Stiles! I really want to believe you but I know you, every time one of his pretty boys shows up you start drooling and making a fool of yourself"

"You don't get it! I'm not drooling for any…." I tried to reply but he cut me off.

"He is not gay!"

"You don't know that!" Crap why did I said that?

"See? You're falling in his game, please Stiles if you want a new friend just go the club and add a new whore or whatever to your clique"

I laughed, thought I wasn't amused at all. "You're saying I can't have straight friends?"

"I'm just saying that you can't handle…"

"Fuck you Derek!" I yelled biting my tongue as the words came out of my mouth.

"FUCK YOU!" I repeated with hitched breath.

I went into bed and hid under the covers. I Put on my earbuds and played some music. Damn it! Why? Why he had to be such a jerk? Why he couldn't understand? Who told him to take care of me when I went through Isaac's crap? I knew he was concerned about me but he had not right to talk to me the way he did…and I was so stupid…stupid for sobbing under my mattress like a little girl! It was so unfair…I was so happy before and then that jackass… ruined everything!

….

Let's forget about me for a moment. Jim was up to something great. So while I was hiding in my bed with face damp because of Derek he was starting to plant the seeds of chaos in the playing field.

Okay maybe I'm being a little melodramatic actually it was just an innocent talk or…that's what he pretended it looked like.

He got early that day to practice, of course as team's captain Jack was already there and Garret too but they got to wait at least fifteen minutes for the rest of the team and astonishingly, for the coach. Wasn't that asshole acting like crazy the week before? He had been pushing them extra hard because their next game was two days away and he just showed up late as if it wasn't a big deal while he gave them hell just days ago for even chewing gum. So they practiced as usual but harder this time so even though he got late the coach felt in the right to become Fidel Castro all over again. They played their usual game after stretching and everything and then the coach noticed something odd. Everybody and not just Jim…was having issues snatching balls, well, everybody except Jack, Kyle and Aidan. So the coach decided to make a little exercise, it was basically the Same Jack and Jim did in their private sessions, they had to take the ball from Jack's feet. The coach gave them a quick explanation of how to do it properly and guess what? It didn't involve eye contact at all.

Jim sighed and rolled his eyes when the coach asked them to make a line and start the exercise. He was almost at the end and yet he could see perfectly how Jack and Garret messed in the middle of the playing field. Kyle was the second in the line so in matter of seconds Jack would be the one who was being embarrassed in front of everybody.

When it was Kyle's turn he swiftly took the ball and started running being chased by Jack. Jim looked around, Garret was now behind him.

He whistled in amazement. "Kyle is pretty good"

"Definitely" Garret agreed nodding.

"Good? He is amazing" Aidan said suddenly turning his back from the rest of the line to face Jim.

"Yeah, I know what you mean" Jim murmured as if he was a telling a gossip, it was time to execute his plan. "He can't not just dribble, he scores, he can handle a bunch of people on him…and he is great with corners"

"Yeah, he is the best of all of us" Aidan said thoughtful.

"It is weird don't you think?" Jim added mischievously.

"What?" Aidan and Garret asked at unison.

"That he can do anything… I even think that he could be…I'm not saying that Jack isn't a good captain but… I think Kyle could do a really good job"

Aidan and Garret stared at Jim with their brows wrinkled. "Yeah…I think you're right" Said the first.

"He definitely would" Garret agreed.

"It's a shame he isn't the captain" Jim said casually and looked at both of them and how their eyes were absent as if they were too busy considering it.

The seed was planted.

….

You might think that Derek and I sorted our things out the next morning but actually it was more complicated than that. We didn't talk to each other on Thursday, actually I barely saw him in class and later in our dorm by night. He made me dinner, he didn't say it but come on! He left a plate filled with seven's flavors salad on my desk after I came from the bathroom. I didn't eat though I was starving and most of the stores were already closed. Maybe I should have called for a pizza and ask Kyle to come in when he delivered and prove Derek that I wasn't interested at all in Mr. Worst performance, but I wasn't in the mood of seeing Kyle or anyone else, I just… wanted to be alone. Derek's words cut me deep and I knew he realized how wrong all the crap he said was, it is just that… I couldn't forgive him that easily. I couldn't shake his words out of my head.

That Friday I woke up at six with a terrible headache probably because I went to bed with a hole in the stomach. Derek's bed was empty so I was tempted to look for the salad plate on my desk but it wasn't there, instead… it was replaced by two fresh ham and cheese sandwiches, remember what I told you about being treated like a dog? He thought he could fix things by feeding me! God I was so mad! But… I was…also starving.

I hurried to swallow the sandwiches before I left to the bathroom, but sadly I wasn't fast enough and Derek got in right when I was basically licking my fingers delighted for how delicious they were.

"Hey" He said closing the door behind him, he was wearing those tight jogging pants that everybody loved and a white top tank.

I rolled my eyes and put the plate back on the desk embarrassed, damn! I fell on his trap!

I looked away crossed legs on my bed trying to figure out a way to get out of the room without having to look at him.

He sat next to me with eyes down. "Look Stiles…" He started but I cut him off.

"I don't wanna talk about it okay?" I replied dryly.

"But I do" He said sternly.

I balled my hands squeezing the mattress, of course I wasn't going to hit him though I was tempted, but it wouldn't be wise. Now that Derek was a Jock-Jerk I didn't have a chance against him and I was just fine with the sentimental wounds, and I didn't want real ones.

"Look I think that I explained myself in the wrong way the other night"

_Really?_ I bit my lip.

"But what I was trying to tell you is that I'm concerned about you" He let out softly. His fresh mint breath stirred the hair in the back of my neck.

"Derek…" I started but he rose his hand.

"Let me finish" He pleaded. "I know you didn't see it the last time but I did. I saw what that asshole did to you"

"But Kyle…"

"You don't know how was it" His voice cracked, my heart leaped and I looked up. When our eyes met I felt a stab in the chest, his azure twin pools were shiny and bleary.

"When we got in the room and I found you…there was so much blood…"

Just for the record blood can be scandalous sometimes.

"You were lying there Stiles…" He muttered with his eyes wide open and now a single tear threatened to fall down. "I thought you were dead…I thought of all the things we didn't do. I thought about your dreams all gone and was so jealous and mad at you because you didn't think about your family, you didn't think about me you just thought in Isaac. How could you leave us all because of him? I couldn't understand"

I gasped and then I noticed that I had been holding my breath during his speech…I hadn't… realize…how much pain I've caused.

"Derek…"

"I was so scared Stiles" Now the tear fell and slowly ran down his reddened cheek until it landed on his rosy upper lip. "I couldn't imagine the world without you and then you puked…you puked on yourself and I could breathe again. I held you and Allison was telling me that we needed to wash your wrists to see how deep the cuts were but I thought that if I stopped holding you, you would vanish in the air. I just couldn't let you go"

Now I glanced down to my wrist. There were my scars, they were the marks in my skin that would always remind me who I was and what I've done.

Sometimes…Sometimes I forgot who Derek was, since he became a hunk I…I think I might have started looking at him that way and then I neglected those sides that made him the real Derek…the emotionally fragile…and beautiful person he really was inside.

"I'm sorry" He made a pause. "But I still can't let you go"

Oh crap! My heart started throbbing as soon as those words came out of his mouth. I didn't I didn't realize how much pain I would have caused if I really had tried to kill myself that day.

"But Derek…" Yeah I was being an asshole, after hearing that coming from those now pasty lips and being stared that way from those big puppy eyes anyone would have melt down and gave up…but I couldn't, the project was part of me I knew that if I didn't do it I would regret it the rest of my life.

"I know I can't forbid you being friends with Kyle…just promise me something"

I nodded.

"If you ever feel attracted to not just Kyle but any other guy that you're not sure if he is gay or not, you will leave as soon you feel you have feelings for them. Go, no explanations or anything just go away from their lives"

I nodded. "I promise" I could do that, I didn't have feelings for Kyle, yeah he was HOT like a burning building hot but that was all, I wasn't interested in him or his perfect body or how dump he could be when he tried to act or how graceful he looked in the playing field and of course I wasn't planning on going to his next game!

"And if they keep looking for you, just tell me I'll kick their asses" Derek said jokingly and now I could see how his face changed in matter of seconds, he was smiling.

I nudged him with my shoulder and smirked. "I can take care of myself"

"Yeah?" He said sarcastically. "Alright, I'll let you take care of yourself when you're good enough to take me down" He joked.

"That's unfair! Not in a million years in the gym I could as hot as you"

He chuckled blushing. "Is not about that… it is all about the technic"

"Then you're screwed Derek, remember how many times at day they kicked our asses at school?"

"You're calling me a loser?" He joked and then rose. "I gotta go… I see you later at class" He said and I waved at him. He left and I rose from my bed to get some clothes and go the bathroom when someone knocked the door and… guess who was standing in the doorway.

"Kyle what are you doing here?" I said a little shocked. Thank god he didn't appear right when Derek and I were talking or it would have been such a mess.

"Hey I thought that we could go to the gym" He said cheerful.

"Gym?" I grimaced.

"Oh come on! I need a working out buddy" He pleaded.

"I don't know…" I said thoughtful. Why he couldn't understand that it was my thing?

"Go change…come on!" He said bossily.

"But…"

"No buts… move your butt before it gets late Stily"

I rolled my eyes and invited him in while I grabbed my stuffs and went to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later we were walking toward the gym, and I still couldn't believe I agreed to join him. Well, while I was taking a shower I thought it would be a pretty good idea actually. I would spend some time with him, not that I would like to spend time with him, I was just interest in the project. The problem is that with every step I gave the more I thought in Derek's words, it was serious shit. I mean, getting too close to Kyle could be dangerous because let's face he was attractive and sometimes…he…wasn't…let's just say that sometimes I might actually enjoy his company.

"Are you listening to me?" He said.

I snapped back to reality. "What? I'm sorry I'm still a little sleepy, what were you saying?"

"I was telling you that Julia talked to me about this winter film festival hosted in here"

"Really?" I pretended I didn't know anything about it.

"Yeah and she told a small group that we should participate"

"That's great!" I rolled my eyes in the insides.

"Are you kidding? This is your big chance! Win that and everyone will be talking about you!"

"I think you're overreacting a little" I chuckled. "Is just an indie film festival"

"Are you kidding?" He said between laughs. "Bill Torthon is one of the judges"

OH JESUS CHRIST! Bill Torthon? Did I heard well? "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, she gave us this brochures, he is the best movie director ever! You should definitely shoot your story"

"My story? I gave it to you"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Stily! Do you really think I would steal your story? It is yours and it is awesome! You could win…No…I know you'll win"

I chortled.

"How can you be so sure? She liked many other scripts"

"Because I know you" He replied frowning as if he couldn't get me. "I know what you're capable of, I know how passionate you're and plus you'll have an awesome male lead"

Oh! So this is what it's was about.

"I don't know… my story is kind of complicated and I don't have the money"

"Then write about something else, you said you had tons of ideas just use one that can adjust to what you have in hand"

"I…"

"Just think about it, you still got plenty of months to shoot the film, look we are here!"

He pointed up and I saw the sign of the gym, the place where we first met. It was kind of funny how things could change in matter of months. He was right I could do an awesome job in matter of weeks and shoot an award winning film.

We got in. As the last time I went there I found it packed with a thick crowd and of course eighty percent of the people there were men, hot men!

_Don't stare, don't stare._I thought as we passed by the rows and rows of machines being occupied by sweaty and attractive guys.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" I heard a voice say. Crap I forgot Derek came here! That was how I met Kyle in the first place!

"Hey Derek!" Kyle said cheerful and rose his hand to shake it.

Derek took his hand politely though I could see his jaw set….wait a minute. How Kyle did know Derek's name? Well, maybe they have talked at the gym or in the writing course who knew but…I couldn't help thinking there was something weird going on.

I didn't know what to say.

"Do you want to train with us?" Kyle suggested.

"No thanks I was…leaving actually" Derek replied sternly and started walking away.

I know what he was thinking, he was thinking I was falling for Kyle because I always rejected him when he invited me to the gym and now I was right there with Kyle Parrish. Maybe I should tell Derek about the project, it would calm him down…or maybe….maybe not.

Kyle led me to the only machine that wasn't occupied in the whole place, it was… well, a set of vertical bars that looked like arms or…well, let's just say that it looked like an octopus.

"Sit here" Kyle said pointing at the leather bench in front of the octopus machine.

I did as he bid me.

"Now you'll take the bar and you'll…oh wait look someone just finished with a couple of dumbbells. I'll be right back" And said those words he just left me there to look for god knows what the dumbbells are.

I stayed there thinking of what he was telling me before about grabbing a bar….where was this bar? I couldn't see any despite the arms of the octopus of course, then I glanced up and found it in the top of my head. I've seen it before, all I needed to do was to pull it down behind my shoulder blades…. And…damn, it was pretty heavy.

I gasped and gave up in the octopus machine and then it's when I heard it.

"I think is Stily" Said a voice mockingly.

My stomach plunged down, I recognized that voice. Well kind of…because the problem is that I couldn't tell which of those morons belonged. Yeah, I was talking about the twins.

Before I realized they were next to me. I cursed in my insides and pretended they weren't there.

"Hey I'm talking to you…how are you?" One of them don't ask me which because I couldn't tell them apart for me they would always be moron and dump ass.

I glanced up. "What do you want?" I replied bitterly.

"Nothing dude" He said choking a laugh. "I just wanted to know how you have been. We miss you in the gang"

"Yeah right" I said looking at my back. Damn Kyle was pretty far talking with some random dude.

"It's true… Isaac misses you so much! He even wrote you a letter, you want me to read it for you?"

"I think I remember a part" His brother added smiling devilishly his pointy fangs showing beneath his upper lip as if he was secretly a werewolf. "It said, no matter what I'll always think about you Stily and I'll love you until my heart stops…beating" Of course he was quoting my own letter which was twisted. How many times did they read it that they memorized? It had fifteen pages for Christ sake! Why did they hate me so much?

I stood and gave them my back.

"Hey! Come back here I'm not done with you" One of them –I think it was dump ass- said and grabbed me by the arm and tugged hard.

"Hey!" I heard another familiar voice. I craned my neck and found Cass standing next to dump ass putting at hand in his chest as a warning. Shit! He was going to ruin it!

I quickly tilted my head toward him and made hi signs to stay out of it when Tim joined us and I did the same with him. If they tried to protect me the twins would think they weren't cool and that meant all their hard work would be in vain.

"What? Do you know this faggot?" Dump ass asked.

I kept looking at Cass I screamed with my eyes "Don't do it!"

He shook his head and retrieved his hand.

Dump ass released me, and when he made me turn I saw Cass and Tim's pity looks and my anger flared, I wasn't defenseless. Why everyone kept thinking that I couldn't take care of myself?

"So…Stily when is your surgery? Have you already picked the size of your new boobs?" Moron mocked and at me at that was it, they weren't just a pair of motherfucking homophobes they were also transphobes which wasn't a surprise actually.

"Fuck you dump ass or are you moron? I don't remember cuz you motherfuckers are so alike that I can't tell which of you is stupider than the other" I spat angrily feeling how my blood boiled in my veins and my heart beat rose…oh hell I was in serious troubles but it totally worth it.

"What did you say?" Dump ass or Moron yelled and he rose his hand.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Kyle's voice said furiously and my heart gave a lurch, I couldn't let them say anything else about my sexuality or it would screwed up everything.

I needed to think fast.

"That's none of your business little fairy" One of the twins said though I could see that they were a little intimidated by the size of Kyle's arms and chest and I could almost see him crashing their heads with his biceps that would be so cool!

"How did you called me?" Kyle laughed though he wasn't having fun at all.

"Are you looking for a fight little fairy?"

"Is there any problem here?" A voice said a my back and when I turned I found three really big men of thirty or so, two women and Derek staring at the Twins with despise.

"No" Cass quickly added. "We were just leaving" He affirmed.

"What?" Dump ass said though he seemed pretty terrified. "We just got here!" Damn he was dumper than I thought.

"I said we're leaving" Cass grunted and beckoned them to follow him to the exit.

Everyone stayed there in silence until they disappeared from the door. I'm pretty sure they were all eager to know what they were saying to me but before they had the chance I was already halfway through the other exit.

Damn I was so angry! How was it possible? How many months had passed? How longer Isaac's shadow would follow me? I wanted to cry and kick the dumpster at my left imagining it was Isaac and the twins. How could they be so mean? Okay that word was too soft. How could they be so evil? What they wanted for me? Wanted me to commit suicide? I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction, I was going to stay alive and became a motherfucking awesome movie director just to piss them off.

"Stily!" Kyle's concerned voice said at my back.

Shit. I slowly turned on my heels changing my expression.

"Are you alright?" He asked grimacing.

"Yeah… I'm fine" I replied casually as if nothing happened.

He sighed with relief. "Then come let's work out"

I shook my head. "You go… the gym isn't my thing"

"Why do you say…?"

"Oh come on Kyle! Every time I step in a gym some moron mocks of me" I threw the bone.

It took him a second to realize what I just said and then he shook his head. "Wait! Aren't you thinking that…?"

"The first time we met?" I arched a brow.

"Look it was different! I wasn't mocking of you I was…" He made a pause, I would like to call it dramatic pause because it was hell of startling what he said next. "I just wanted to talk to you, and I didn't know what to say without looking stupid or anything"

Oh shit…what did he said? Was he…was he suggesting what I thought he was suggesting? But it didn't make…

"I needed a work out buddy and I saw you alone that day I couldn't find a way of asking it to you so…I just kind of screwed things"

"You could have told me!" I said shocked. I couldn't believe him.

"Are you kidding? With that unfriendly stare of yours?"

"Unfriendly what?" I repeated shocked.

"Stily come on! Everyone who doesn't know you thinks that you're kind of a jerk, you look at everybody as if you want them to leave alone when you don't even know them"

"I don't!" I defended myself yet a little startled…could he…could he be right? Did I wore an unfriendly face all the time?

"It doesn't matter, when people get to know you they realize the truth but you should change that… see the world with new eyes. Not everybody is your enemy" He added putting a hand on my shoulder.

After those words something clicked inside me though I wasn't still sure what was it… I just felt weird.

"Come on…I'll take you to your dorm" He said releasing my shoulder.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, while I turned and tugged it out I saw Derek at the other side of the street looking both ways, his phone was in his ear.

I sighed.

"I can walk by my own"

"No, they might come back it is safer if a friend goes with you"

Friend… of course he thought we were friends…but…it sounded strange hearing it from him.

I just nodded in silence and started walking with him. I turned one last time. Derek wasn't anywhere on sight, did he give up? Or was he looking for me somewhere else?

"Are you listening to me?" Kyle said moody when we crossed the street.

"Uh? Sorry what did you say?" I asked frowning. For how long had I been absent?

"I was telling you that Kristie wants to have dinner with us after we win tomorrows' game"

"Oh okay!" I agreed nodding.

"So where you would like to go?" Kyle frowned. "Kristie insisted that she wants to cook but actually she is a terrible cooker, don't tell her though. I eat everything she cooks because I don't want to hurt her feelings"

He lied to her…great!

"I can cook" I replied with a brief smile.

"Really?" He said happily as we entered in the campus and stopped before we split in my dorm's building.

Wait…what did I said?

"Fine…we can do it in my place. Kristie said she can't wait to meet your girl, we can cook all together and have some fun" He said excited.

Wait what? Girlfriend? Oh shit!

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah! Totally fine!" I said coolly.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow in the game then" He finished and then left.

How in the…how in the hell was I going to develop culinary skills and have a girlfriend for tomorrow afternoon? That was a pretty interesting question. But actually more interesting was the answer.

….

They won the game. Well, barely, it was two against one and yet they were pretty excited about it. They jumped and laughed and Kyle even made celebration dance in the middle of the field to amuse their now growing crowd. People cheered and everybody was really excited because wining that game meant that they were a game away of the intercollege championship in Sunset Valley. Jim could almost feel the sun in his skin and the warm salty water splashing his face. It was going to be great.

"Everybody!" Jack shouted when everyone was calming down and the people were starting to leave.

The team made a circle around him.

"Guys! We did it!" He said excited when everyone was in place.

"I knew we could do it" Kyle added.

"Yeah thanks to you buddy" Aidan patted Kyle in the back.

"We are a team we did all together" Jack said sternly and looked at them as braggers. "We are just a game away of the championship"

"Beach yeah!" Said Kev rising a hand cheerful.

"It is about beach and parties Kevin" Jack pointed out. "We need to work harder, our next game is still a couple of weeks ahead but we need to be ready"

"Oh come on Jack we need a break" Kyle giggled.

"I know I know" Jack agreed with him. "That's way I've been talking with my parents and they agreed that we all deserve to celebrate all our hard work"

_Fuck yeah!_Thought Jim, it was time for party! It was Saturday afternoon and he didn't have to worry for his classes until tomorrow when we had to study for his Monday's Networks exam.

"So if you aren't busy tonight I'll be hosting a little party in my house and also we can watch today's world cup's game" He said excited.

_World cup game?_ That was his idea of a party? Jesus! Jim really needed to show Jack how have fun.

"I'll see you guys at my house at six"

It was three pm so Jim still got some time to get back to his place and take a shower. So he grabbed his stuffs and started walking to the parking lot. When he was climbing up he saw a shadow flashing before him.

"Aidan" He greeted the boy.

"Hey!" Aidan replied nodding at him. "You did a really good job today"

"Come on!" Jim laughed. "I suck at soccer"

"No you don't, you just need some practice. Most of us have just been playing our whole lives"

"Yeah, actually Jack is helping me with that"

"Hey I was wondering…if you aren't hurried…do you think you can give me a lift? I'm pretty tired. My dorm isn't too far away so…"

"Yeah, it's fine" Jim nodded. It looked like Jim's plan was starting to give his fruits, at least someone in the team didn't hate him and now he just needed to gain the trust of the rest of the team and turn them against Jack.

Aidan climbed in the back seat with his duffel bag and then Jim started thinking about that night's _"__party_" he needed to behave cool and blend in the team to find a way to start messing with their minds.

He turned on the engine and the passenger's door swum open suddenly.

"Hey!" Jack said getting in. "Don't you mind to drive me home?"

"Um…okay" Jim licked his lips. "Why didn't you left with your parents or Beverly?"

"My parents left already, they needed to get early home to get everything done and Beverly didn't come she…doesn't like…" He suddenly stopped and Jim looked at him.

Jack craned his neck to the back of the car. "Oh I didn't know…"

"Yeah, Aidan asked me to take him to his dorm" Jim hurried to explain. Crap he was so nervous! It was the last thing he would want, Jack would suspect that Jim was plotting against him with Aidan and soon with the others. Okay maybe that was too much, how could Jack have such twisted mind to think all that? Maybe Jim was being a little paranoid.

"Oh…I'm sorry" Jack said opening the door and getting out of the car.

"Jack wait, I can take you home" Jim affirmed.

"No" Jack replied shaking his head. "It's okay I don't want to bother you, you are already busy and I'm sure you're really tired and want to go home"

"Are you sure? My dorm is just a couple of blocks away" Aidan affirmed.

"Yeah it's cool" Jack snapped. "I'll see you guys in my house"

"Okay" Jim replied adjusting his mirrors while Jack closed the door and started walking toward the train station.

….

I didn't see the game. Actually I forgot about it. I've spent the Saturday morning with a nerve crisis because I've been so sloppy to forget that sooner or later I would need to introduce Kyle my _girlfriend._ I could that have happened? I had things under control, I was following the steps of my plan…and yet…I wasn't expecting it to be so soon. At some point it was a good thing that Kyle were rushing things down, considering that we were leaving another week behind and the Mr. Perry's final project presentation was nearer with every second. It was hard to thing or even imagine that in just two months I would be displaying my movie in front of the class I could almost see them all openmouthed I just needed to get everything done. I had to find a girlfriend and manage to cook a delicious dinner before it was too late, but also I needed to start cutting the scenes from the betches videos and mix all with some awesome music in the background –I was probably going to use some of Natives' Culture songs- But I was rushing as usual for now I needed to find a girlfriend and the best choice for my dilemma was Becca.

Do you remember Becca? Blonde, nice, a really good person and an awesome partner in crime. Given that she followed my lead the last time and pretended to date me just to help me with Isaac even when I didn't know what she was doing or I didn't ask her help. She was my only but also the best choice I knew she was going to play a good part and she also knew how to cook.

Okay I know that I made a mistake by telling Kyle that I could cook. I just said it because he mentioned that Kristie was a terrible cooker and all I wanted was to show him that there were things on me that he wouldn't be able to find in her, but of course I had a problem. He mentioned about cooking at his place which would be a mess when he found out that I lied , in other hand Becca could give some instructions while we were on it and if Kyle asked himself if I lied he would just think that I just said a half-lie or a half-true? At this point I couldn't tell them apart because as the twins they were pretty much the same. It all depended of on which light you saw it.

I sat on my bed giving nervous hops with my right leg between the edge of the mattress and the floor with the phone on my ear waiting for Becca to pick it up. By now the game was far from finished and I didn't have news from Kyle so I figured out that they have lost –Of course later I learned that I was wrong-

"Hello?" A familiar voice said at last and I sighed with relief.

"Becca!" I said happily.

"Stily!" She replied cheerful.

"How are you doing babe?" I joked.

"I'm great honey, enjoining my weekend with Grant in Madison, you got to meet his parents they are so…"

Madison?

"Becca, did I hear wrong? Did you Madison?" Oh no! I just hoped I was wrong.

"Yeah I'm in Madison"

"Madison like maybe…a suburb near college?"

"No honey Madison like…. As far away as possible from my horrible classes. I really needed a break and…"

"Oh" I said disappointed.

"Wait? Did something happen?" She asked concerned.

"No…I just…do you think you could come back…I don't know for tonight? Maybe at dinner time?"

"I'm sorry Stiles… I'm pretty far away I won't be there 'till Monday morning"

_Shit._

"Oh…okay…um… I gotta go, have a nice weekend with Grant" I said listlessly.

"Sure I will, I'll see on Monday okay?"

I cut the call.

Damn! What I was going to do? I lost my girlfriend and my cooker at the same time if I… if only I could….

"Hey" Said Derek's voice as he came into the room.

As soon as I saw Derek a lightning bolt ran throw my body…he! He was the answer. Well, not exactly him, he was partially a solution.

"Hey!" I replied with a grin because I already got a plan, but then I noticed his jaw was set and his cheeks were a little rosy, the same way they got every time we have an arguing or he came from one of his jogging sessions "Is something wrong?" I asked warily he might come up with Kyle's topic again.

He shook his head. "No…I'm fine" He replied dryly.

_Yeah sure!_I thought rolling my eyes. I know that the right thing to do was trying to make him talk but I was running out of time. Later that night I would make it up for him.

"Derek…I was wondering, do you think you could teach me how to cook something quick and edible?" I asked blushing.

His stark expression rapidly became an amused one. "What? Cooking? Really?"

I pressed my lips in a slim line. "It's okay if you don't want to. I just…"

"No! Its fine! I'm just intrigued by this…oh! Wait…" Now he got his puzzled look. Puzzled look Derek meant that the engines were already turning inside his mind.

I needed to act quickly. Thank god my tongue was faster than my mind because as soon as I opened my mouth…

"Do you remember that Jim wanted me to move with him?" I said hastily.

He nodded frowning.

"Well, we were right he is a terrible cooker and he needs a couple of lessons and I thought that maybe I could help him" Wow I couldn't believe that those words came out of my mind! I repeat it I was becoming a damn good liar!

Derek stared at me suspiciously and then his expression went blank. Great!

"Um… alright we can go there and I'll help him with"

_Shit, think Stily think_. "Oh! That would be great! Jim just met a couple of _HOT_ guys last night and he want me to meet them, I can't wait Jim told me that one of them has a huge…"

"Okay maybe I can show you how to make a quick Tortellini salad, but just stop talking"

"Um…okay" I replied holding a big laugh that was about to come out.

So we stepped in front of the kitchen mom got us when we moved into college and she started talking about how unhealthy was to eat fries all day and everything else. Now that I remember in those days none of us didn't know anything about cooking. Well, I still couldn't but Derek…Derek had changed a lot since we came college, now he was a triple-threat, he was so responsible and skilled in so many areas and now he was even hot! I couldn't help feeling a little intimidated and jealous of him.

He help me put on his apron and we started excitedly to work on the Tortellini salad and…thirty minutes later Derek lost his patience. I was a mess.

"Okay stop!" He yelled

I forgot to cover the food processor with its cap…and well on my hard… okay his hard work was splattered in the floor, and our faces.

"I'm sorry" I said glancing down.

Damn! Why it had to be so hard? The worst part is that I didn't even make it to the actual cooking part. I felt like a loser.

"It's okay" Derek said suddenly breaking in loud laughs and then whipping some tomato puree from my cheek.

I turned and took a towel to clean my hands and saw my reflection in the mirror. It was a disaster, Derek did a lousy work. Because my cheeks were still red and my hair was covered with slices of onion and cucumber. I cleaned myself quickly and when I turned Derek was already cutting the vegetables again.

"Maybe…we should start with something easier in our next class" He teased.

I just sat next to him and watched him work.

"What? Cereal or toasts?" I said bitterly. I couldn't believe how helpless I could be.

"I was thinking in something more like… ice cubes" He joked.

_Jerk_ I thought as I took off his apron and threw it at his face. Derek dodged it and continued cooking with a mocking grin showing his perfectly white teeth. Gosh! Sometimes…sometimes I just…hated him! Geez!

Fooling around with Derek almost made forget that I still needed a girlfriend. When he got busy mixing up everything I sneaked out of the room and tugged my phone sitting the corridor to a safe distant from our door but not too far in case he needed my help –let's face it. Not in a million years he would need it-

I dialed the number and she picked right after the first ring.

"Stiles" She said in a hasted muter.

"Hey Missy" I whispered too though I wasn't sure why I was doing it.

"What do you want I'm kind of busy right now" She murmured.

"How busy? Busy like not hanging out with me today?"

"Busy like if you don't explain yourself I'm going to cut the call" She warned.

"Um…Stiles?" I heard Derek's voice at my back.

I jumped on my place holding my throbbing chest and hurrying to cover the speaker of my phone.

I glance up and Derek stared at me suspiciously, now his expression was like the one he wore earlier that day.

"Hey what's up? Is it ready?"

He nodded. "Yeah I was going to tell you that it is almost ready, just wait ten more minutes and turn it off okay?"

I frowned. "Are you going out?" I asked startled.

"I…yeah...I need some fresh air" He replied unconvincingly.

"Um…okay then" I said with a grin. "Thanks for helping me"

"Its fine, have a good night with Jimmy say hi to him for me"

I nodded. He turned and started waddling out. "Derek…" I said at his back.

"Yeah?"

"The thing in the woods, tonight remember?" I said nodding at him. In our secret language what I truly said was: _"__I know something happened to you, we'll talk about it later_.

He grinned flatly and strode off.

"If you're not going to say anything I'm going to cut the…" I heard Missy's muffled yells below my palm recalled that I was having a conversation with her.

"Oh sorry" I said when put the phone back on my ear.

"You made me come to the bathroom now tell me what the hell is going on!" She said angrily.

"Look I know this is going to sound crazy but I need you to be my girlfriend tonight" Okay that sounded pretty crazy!

She let out a long and annoying laugh overt the speaker and then replied. "No"

"Missy! I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend for real, I just want you to pretend you are!"

"I can't I'm sorry, I gotta go"

"Wait!" I pleaded.

"Look Stiles I'm on a date okay? You're ruining the snuggling part of the movie" She said angrily.

"You're on a date?" I said startled. What the hell was wrong with the world? Why everyone had to date or hang out on Saturdays?

"I gotta go, Claire must be wondering where am I" She said disorientated I cut the call.

Claire she said? I knew Missy was a lesbian. A point for my gaydar, and one for her for not giving a shit of what her friends my think of her for dating a girl.

Oh crap! I didn't have a date! What the hell? What I was going to do now? I didn't have a girlfriend and the Tortellini… oh shit the Tortellini.

I quickly got inside the room just in time to turn off the kitchen. I started looking for some containers where to put the dinner to take to Kyle's home? Maybe I could tell that my girlfriend was sick or…

"Hey" Said Allison's voice at my back.

I waved at her absently and started opening the containers.

"Derek isn't here?"

I shook my head still back to her.

"He so immature"

I started pouring the content of the pot in the container.

"I mean, I just wanted to do something nice for him and took him to eat some of caramel apple bars you bought the other day…"

Damn the noise didn't let me think straight, I needed a plan.

"Then he said that he could eat it because of all the calories…"

Finally! I got a plan. I was going to call Kyle and tell him that I was sick yeah! That I got…the flu. Then I was going to call Becca back and beg her to help me with the double date for Monday night. Yeah she had a boyfriend which meant that she probably was going to refuse…but if I told her to just do it for Monday then I would tell Kyle that we broke up I could win some time…

"And I was so mad because he ate the ones you bought and argh! He acts like a kid sometimes"

Jesus if I could only use one of Derek's dirty socks to shut Allison's mouth and….

I jerked my neck so fast that I hurt myself on the process.

"Why…why are you looking at me that way?" She said a little uneasy.

It was crazy, I know, but I had no choice.


	8. Chapter 8

Jim picked Aidan back at his place two hours after their game. Since Jack's place was pretty far he thought it would be nice to give him a lift. Yeah you read well, Jim was doing _nice_things now. On their way there Aidan suggested they could get some booze. Jim had a bad feeling about this considering that Jack didn't drink alcohol at all, but after thinking about it inside the grocery store he got to the conclusion that a bottle of wine wouldn't hurt anyone.

Of course they didn't just buy a bottle of wine, they got three beers six packs and two bottles of vodka, you know just in case Jack changed his mind.

After that they climbed back into the car Jim drove to Jack's place. When they got there a weird feeling of uneasiness made him feel sick. They walked to the veranda surrounded by many blossomed flowers. They hit the bell and almost automatically someone opened the door.

"You came!" Jack said excited looking at Jim with a grin. "Oh hey Aidan!" Quickly added noticing the guys' presence next to Jim.

Aidan nodded at him.

"Please come in" Jack invited stepping aside to let them in.

Jim gave a hesitating step inside. They were in a bright drawing room with cream painted walls on which hanged tons of portraits. They followed Jack to the living room and they sat in a champagne couch. Jim looked around, the air smelt like old wood and was somehow heavy he couldn't tell why but he felt a little uncomfortable. There was a coffee table before them with some small pieces of cake that Jack offered to them. At Jim's left was a TV and some paintings at his right a big bookshelf stacked with tons of books with golden letters on them. He glanced up and then he noticed the reason he was feeling so out of the place. Behind the TV was a big wooden cross and now that he looked around he could see that the paintings and portraits were all of the same person…Jesus. Alright he knew Jack believed in god and everything so he didn't know why was surprised that his family did too.

"Oh here they are!" A singsong voice said at Jim's back.

He craned his neck and found himself facing a tall and slim woman on her early forties. She was wearing a long and white peasant styled rayon skirt, on top of it a salmon blouse that matched the little sweater she wore on top and was just a shade brighter. A pearls necklace draw their attention away from the wrinkles on her skin. Her golden hair was short and wavy falling on her shoulders, her lips curved upright in a big smile, her nose was short and her eyes gray as a stormy morning. She looked like…like the woman in all of the fifties' commercials, you know? The perfect wife you can see if you go to an exposition of vintage art in a hipster museum.

"Is so nice to meet you two" She said eagerly taking their hands and shaking them hard with her bony one. "My name is Lorraine"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth something stitched Jim in the back of his mind, he couldn't tell why but she felt familiar to him somehow.

"I'm Aidan" The boy said smiling back at the woman.

She nodded at him with her cheeks slightly rosier.

"This is James mom" Jack said happily signing at Jim with his thumb.

"Nice to meet ma'am" Jim said in a mutter.

She looked at him straight in the eye and he could something inside them quickly flickered, she cocked her head to the side as if she were getting a closer look to him. Jim was tempted to look away but it would be rude.

"You…" She started thoughtful. "There is something familiar about you James" She bit her bottom lip with exasperation as if she had the answer in the tip of her tongue.

That statement put Jim on alert, he also felt like he knew her from somewhere else, but he could remember exactly from where, but he had to be careful because his reputation tended to give him off. After all she could be someone he mocked of in the street or something like that.

"James!" Annie voice said at the back of her mother.

Lorraine spun and Annie came rushing from the corridor and threw her arms at Jim's neck.

"Hey Annie" Jim replied happily hugging her back.

"Oh, do you know Annie?" Jack's mom said thoughtful.

"James was who help me with Annie's incident in the clinic" Jack explained patting Jim's back.

"Oh sweetheart that was so nice from you"

Okay I must make a pause in here and say…WHAT THE FUCK? I mean, Jim was latterly laughing inside if only his family and friends could see him in there being praised by a Christian family for being such a good person, this was so bizarre! If they only knew…if they only knew what kind of bitch Jim was really deep inside.

"Jackson why don't you take your friends to the backyard? Al might need an extra hands with the barbecue"

Jack nodded and led Jim and Aidan through a long corridor that led to a small kitchen. Once in there he opened the back door and they got in the backyard. It was a long extension of lawn and just trimmed bushes in the middle of the grass were a couple of empty chairs and a TV set in front of them. At left corner was a man with some silver strands on his hair who waved them when they got there.

"It is nice to meet you boys" The man said shaking both of their hands. "I'm Albert, Jack's father"

"Guys you came!" A voice said at their back.

Jim and Aidan turned and found Garret standing before them.

"Hey dude" Jim greeted him.

"I thought you weren't coming" Garret said wrinkling his forehead.

"And miss the fun?" Aidan said with a grin. Though Jim could swear he felt a note of sarcasm on his voice.

And it was then when Jim realized why Garret said that. The empty chairs, yeah they…were empty and it was a little late in the afternoon. The rest of the team…should be there by now.

….

"I don't know, I'm not in the mood for partying" Allison was saying while we crossed the street.

"Relax it will be fun" I replied as we stopped outside the pizza store. I wasn't sure why Kyle asked me to meet us there, he could have told me were his dorm instead of playing Sherlock Holmes with us.

I didn't tell Allison that she was supposed to be my girlfriend, I mean, I knew she would freak out and say no at once but I really needed a date for that night, at least until Monday when Becca would be back in town I could tell Kyle that Allison and I broke up. I just hoped that they didn't bring up the subject of us being a couple.

"Hey" Kyle said opening the door for us.

He was wearing a burgundy flannel that adjusted perfectly to his body and made his chest look bolder than usual, I must admit that I had to make an effort to not stare. He even put some cologne and now he smelt masculine and attractive… was that right? Could something smell attractive? I couldn't tell why but his scent somehow made him look more handsome that usual.

"Hey" I replied happily. "This is Allison"

"Nice to meet you Allison" Kyle said courteously. He was being a gentlemen wow! I couldn't believe he was able of such thing.

"He is Kyle" I told her.

Allison grinned and I could swear I saw her blush a little and come on! Who could blame her? I mean Kyle looked so hot, but of course that was none of my business.

"Come in" He said politely inviting us in.

"Wait…" I started holding the containers. "Aren't we supposed to have dinner in your place?"

Kyle scoffed. "I live here" He chuckled.

I frowned. "Wait what… what do you mean?" I asked as we followed him inside and passed next to the tables packed with costumers.

"I live here, well, not exactly here" He pointed out.

He guided us to the back of the pizza store and he greeted a couple of guys working in the kitchen and then opened a door for a couple of feet away from the oven.

Inside the room was a stair that we climbed up and lead us to another door. He opened and I gaped. He lived there.

"Stily!" Kristie's voice said excitedly when Kyle opened the door.

She was leaning on the coach taking some compact discs and scattering them over the table at her back. After putting them there she ran toward us and gave me a big hug that as usual broke every bone inside me.

"Hey Kristie" I said cheerful. As soon as I saw her my mood rose and I forgot all the things that were troubling me about that night.

"She is Allison" I hurried to say before Kyle came with something like _"__this is Stily's girl_" or something like that. I needed to be careful and not let them know that Allison wasn't my girlfriend and of course I couldn't let Allison know either what they thought about us.

It was going to be an interesting night.

"You are you beautiful" Kristie said looking now at Allison. She released me and then hugged Allison and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Oh come on! She got to be kidding! Allison wasn't that beautiful, I mean, yeah she was pretty and everything but… okay maybe I was being an ass. She was my _girlfriend_I had to see her pretty or else they might suspect but just for the record, if I were straight I would have dated a girl less emo and more eager to live…maybe someone like Kristie.

Now…Kyle's place, well, it kind of looked like a loft. It was very spacious! But as spacious it was also pretty empty. There were just a couch in the middle, a small music player. At the right corner was a computer next to a bed, a door that probably led to a bathroom and a table with four plastic chairs. The rest of was just the endless wood floor that screeched with every step we took.

"What you got here?" Kyle said snatching the food containers from my hands.

"You brought the dinner?" Kristie said with some disappointment in her voice. "I thought we were going to make it here"

"I got some free time and I thought I could make it and bring it here done already"

Allison snapped her neck and stared at the containers and then looked at me suspiciously. Of course she knew I couldn't cook.

"Let's seat them" Kyle added happily, he definitely was enjoining the idea of not having to taste one of Kristie meals that night.

Allison kept staring at me on our way to the table and I couldn't blame her at this point she must have known that something was going on. I mean, I told her we would go to meet some friends so she could forget of whatever Derek did to her, actually I didn't pay much attention of what she was saying because I was busier with the Tortellini but I think it got something to do with him forgetting a date or something.

Allison sat in the table looking at us uncomfortably while Kristie grabbed some plates from the drawers before us and set them on the table while Kyle opened the food containers.

A salty and spice aroma filled the air and my guts squirmed delighted, oh Derek such a good chef, and I wasn't the only one thinking it because as soon as the steamy cloud expanded and the rest of smelt it I felt all the eyes on me especially Allison's.

Since Allison was my "_girlfriend"_I sat next to her and then Kyle served the Tortellini for us. Kristie stood before we started eating and turned on the lights. At my back the sun was already down and a gentle and a little chilly air came inside through the big bay windows.

"Wine? Allison?" Kyle offered while he opened a bottle he just snatched from the pantry.

"Um…" Allison said taken off guard. By looking at her I could see that was still thinking about whatever happened with Derek and I felt sorry for her.

"She will have a cup" I said for her.

Kyle poured four plastic cups and handled them to us.

We started eating in silence. I wasn't sure what was going on, I mean, in the bowling everything was different. There was this chemistry between the three of us and actually I wanted to joked about a couple of things with Kyle and Kristie and I couldn't tell why I felt uncomfortable so suddenly and I noticed that they were feeling the Same about this awkward silence that fell upon us until I craned my neck to the right I understood. The problem wasn't Kristie, Kyle and me. The problem was Allison and me, we weren't looking at each other or anything and Kyle and Kristie were noticing it.

I had to think fast. I took my fork and shoved it into her mouth without thinking.

Allison's eyes popped open and I was pretty sure they were come out of their sockets. She opened her mouth to say something…shit she was going to ruin everything.

"So…how did you guys meet?" Kristie said casually looking at us expectantly.

I sighed with relief and before Allison could say anything I started telling the story of how met but of course I didn't mention Derek or better said…I changed Derek's name to mine, thought I didn't say anything about kisses or sex or me dragging a drunk guy into the room.

Allison quickly noticed my edited version of how we met. I saw it in her eyes…damn I should have told her from the beginning but if I did…she wouldn't accept to join me.

Kristie laughed a lot while I was telling how Allison and I were saying snarky things about the parties in the campus and she almost choked with her wine.

"It was pretty fun actually" Allison suddenly said and I quickly craned my neck toward her, afraid of what she might said.

"We split from Stiles' annoying best friend and came in to the frat house and was these guy puking all over the place and…"

"Allison we're eating!" I said with a polity grin while I glared at her.

"Oh let her be Stily" Kristie laughed. "Gross things are the funniest. Like this time when I was twelve and I was at a party and one my friends had her first period and we didn't have any tampons…"

And that's how we ended up talking about disgusting things, the funny thing about it…is that…it was funny! I laughed so hard because every time I thought I knew everything about Kristie she came up with something crazy and funny like when she was in high school and stole the frogs from the lab and tried to save them by flushing them down the toilet and it was a mess and they closed the girls bathroom for an entire month and then many of them got use the boys' while the school repaired the damage.

Suddenly we were all laughing at the table having our cups of wine and even Allison seemed pretty comfortable and now she wouldn't stop talking! I felt a little happy for her, because she really looked like shit earlier and now she was smiling and having so much fun and I felt good with myself because I kind of helped her to feel better.

….

Jack got two more siblings. Two little kids called Archie and Paula, they were seven and nine and they were so cute! Jim saw them playing around the patio while he sat with Aidan before the grill and Jack's dad. By now things were getting a little weird. The game was starting and no one in the team seemed to show up, something was definitely going on here.

"Honey!" Jack's mom voice said at his left.

Jim tilted his head.

"Do you want some cold tea?" She offered as Jim saw she was carrying a tray with her.

Aidan and Jim got their drinks and thanked Mrs. Whittemore and she got back inside right when she let out a high pitched cry and all of them jerked their heads toward her.

At the doorway she was holding a girl and giving her kisses. A closer look showed Jim that this girl was Beverly. Jack approached them and gave her a brief kiss and then he noticed Jim's stare.

_Shit_

"Come here Jimmy!" Jack shouted. Jim bit his bottom lip and stood.

"Is that Jack's girl?" Aidan said amazed.

Jim nodded.

"Dude she's hot" He said open mouthed and followed Jim.

"Jimmy this is Beverly" Jack said with proudness in his voice.

"Hey" Jim pretended an excited voice and shook her hand.

"He is Jimmy…well, actually James…he…is my best friend" Jack said meaning full.

Jim froze and quickly jerked his neck toward Jack who still looked very much proud. A knot tied Jim's guts. See what I say about his out of the blue comments? Jack needed to learn how think before talk and most importantly he needed to learn to trust before assuming things, I mean, they knew each other for how long? A month? And now they were the best friends in the world? Oh bitch please!

Jim grinned at Beverly and she weakly smiled back but it faded quickly.

"I'm Aidan" The guy introduced himself. "I'm on the team too" He added.

"Nice to meet you" Beverly said politely.

Jack guided her to the chairs where they were sitting just minutes ago. Aidan and Jim sat while Jack asked her to stand up again so she could greet his dad.

"Dude…this is boring as hell" Aidan said in a whisper while he pretended he leaned to take his drink.

"I know" Jim replied back looking at both ways to make sure Garret couldn't hear them.

"What if you bring one vodka bottles in?" Aidan suggested with a devilish grin.

"Are you crazy?" Jim muttered holding back a chortled as he craned his neck to check that Jack and his girl were still busy with Jack's dad. "If they find out we brought alcohol to their place they will crucify us"

Aidan sniggered. "Then, we'll have to be extra careful"

Jim looked at Jack and his girl and something burned inside him, Aidan was right why did they have to have such boring night? He they have the right to party and have fun and that meeting was everything but fun. He stood and came into the house making sure to not stumble with anybody. The good think about vodka is that you can mix it up with almost everything and plus it was colorless so no one would find out that they were bringing hell's water into their temple.

He got out of the house and hurried to open the trunk of his car. He took a couple of ice cubes from the cool box and then opened one of the bottles of vodka and poured a substantial amount of the liquid on his cup. This definitely was the most funny thing he have done in the last months, considering how boring his life have become since he committed to help me with the project, sneaking booze into a Christian house unnoticed was a glorious comeback..

He closed the trunk, Aidan would freak out when he found out that…

"Hey" Jack's voice said.

Jim's heart gave a lurch. "Jack! What are you doing here?" He said stepping back so Jack couldn't fell the scent of Jim's enhanced drink.

"Are…are you leaving?" Asked the team's captain with somber voice.

"What? No…I just…came to check up I didn't let the car's light's on" Jim lied.

"Good" Jack replied happily and then kicked a rock. "I thought…they would come"

It Jim a minute to realize what he was talking about and then he felt sorry for Jack and his family, probably they thought he was everybody's hero for being the team's captain but Jim was pretty much sure that this wasn't the first time Jack's family organized a celebration _"__party"_ for the team and they probably knew how things worked with them.

"Maybe…maybe they are on their way" Jim said trying to cheer him up.

"Oh come on James, I knew they weren't coming I just thought that maybe now that we're near the championship things would be different, but let's face it they probably think that I'm a loser"

Damn now Jim felt pity for him.

"Look is Saturday night, maybe they are just busy with their girls or families or whatever"

"Even Kyle" Jack said with disappointment. "I thought he was my friend"

Now suddenly Jim forgot about the pity and before he realized he was speaking before thinking. "I think…I think he is kind of jealous of you"

"What do you mean?" Jack arched a brow.

"You know" Jim teased. "He is pretty cocky and he thinks he is team's star or something, maybe he doesn't like the idea of you being the captain"

"That's not my fault!" Jack said with resentment in his voice. "The coach chose me because…"

"I know" Jim hurried to reply to let him know that he was on his side. "But Kyle doesn't know that, I don't Jacky some people could act like kids sometimes"

"Yeah, I think you're right" Jack nodded.

"I…um…still got to check a couple of things in the car, I'll see you inside alright?"

Jack nodded and waddled in.

When Jim was sure Jack was far enough he tugged out his phone and called Aidan, maybe he wasn't the most beloved team's player but maybe, if he pulled some strings and made some promises things could be a little different that night for Jack.

….

Okay things went from funny to insane when Kristie grabbed a bottle of Tequila from her bag in the couch. At first Allison seemed like she wasn't in the mood for drinking but after Kristie pleaded her to join her she finally gave up and we gathered in the table with tons of slices of lime and a jar of salt.

Sadly things weren't that easy for me, because as I told before I didn't like the idea of drinking alcohol while I was duty, just do the math. Stily plus alcohol plus hot guys meant troubles. Luckily I didn't embarrass myself or anything because I managed to skip a couple of rounds pretending that I had drank already. It was hard though because with tequila you couldn't just hold it in your mouth until you could find a safe place were to throw it, it was so strong you could puke on yourself. The best option was to drink it as fast as possible.

After one hour of quick rounds the bottle went down and I could sigh with relief. Unfortunately Kristie was always a step ahead of us and she pulled another bottle from her bag and I rolled my eyes. Seriously? The more we drank things started coming out more easily among us, Allison felt so comfortable now, like when I met them I felt myself being part of crazy tripod. We laughed and talked about everything, from movies and books to politics and even about peace on earth how humanity could achieve it. Yeah you know how alcohol tends to turn everybody in philosophes with just a couple of cups.

Right after the second bottle popped open and threw myself in the couch pretending I was already knocked out. I couldn't drink more or else I might end up saying that Allison wasn't my girlfriend, or worst telling them about the amazing movie I was working on about straight-curious boys. You know how passionate I become every time someone said anything about my movies and I couldn't let my tongue get loose.

"What's up?" Kyle asked sitting next to me.

I cocked my head to him. "Nothing…I just think I drank too much"

"I know what you mean" He replied with a sidelong look though he seemed pretty sober to me. "The dinner was awesome by the way, I didn't know you got those skills"

I smiled pretentiously and then felt a pang in the chest, I didn't make that dinner. It was Derek thinking that it was for me and Jim and some hot guys. Well the part of the hot guy was true after all…because…because below the dime light we were sitting Kyle...looked so hot he could burst in flames anytime.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"What?"

"Why do you live in here? Why you don't live in a dorm as the rest of us?"

He took a moment to think his answer. "Um…it's complicated Stily, I didn't get a full scholarship and then I met Caroline and she offered me this place and the job, I need the money and I thought it was a great idea I mean… Actors…they can be a little…ill-disposed"

"What do you mean?" I said interested.

"Well is not just actors, actually it happens in all art careers. Have you ever heard the phrase break a leg?"

I nodded.

"Well it might look like a joke, but it is actually it isn't" He sighed. "I don't know, people can be a little jealous sometimes, I had a room and a roommate for half a month and he lived rummaging my stuffs, checking what I was up to, just in case I got an audition or anything he didn't know about, it was pretty scary actually"

"Wow" I said shocked, I mean, I knew that artist could be competitive but hell! I was lucky Derek was my roommate I didn't want to imagine my life if I shared my room with Brandon or any of the coders.

I took a deep breath and looked through the window to the lights of the city and then I realized something. Kyle had money issues, why he didn't tell me about? Well it wasn't like I was going to solve them but we were friends. Friends talk those kind of stuffs and I could help… wait…we weren't friends, I almost forgot about it. But now… I got why he was so upset because of the pizza prank. If refused to pay and Caroline fired him he wouldn't be losing just his job but his home…

"Hey you know what?" He suddenly said excitedly.

I craned my neck.

"Do you know three hundred years of mourn?" He asked and now his eyes sparkled.

I shook my head.

"Oh god!" He said shocked. "It is an awesome movie, we should watch it"

"What? Like right now?" I said a little shocked. I mean we were having a party of sort of.

Then he gave me _that_look…I don't know but suddenly I felt like we were up to something wicked together and it made me feel thrilled.

He stood and walked to the other side of the room to take his computer. At his left Allison and Kristie sat on the table about god knows what but they were laughing a lot and suddenly I felt kind of Jealous part of me wanted to be there laughing my ass out with Kristie's crazy stories but I knew that I couldn't grow fond to her. Sooner or later or was going to get rid of her even when thinking about it made me feel ill, but in my plan there was no place for her.

I sighed and glanced down at Allison's bag next to me and then an idea flashed my mind. Okay I know this was so bad in many ways, but I slid my hand inside it –my mom would have killed me if she found me digging in her purse- and tugged out Allison's phone.

I craned my neck quickly toward Kyle, he was still occupied with his laptop. Without thinking twice I shoved my hand into Kristie's bag and released the phone inside.

"Are you ready?" Kyle asked sitting next to me with the laptop in his hands.

I jerked up startled, sucked a breath and smiled. "Yeah" I said with a grin though deep inside… I felt like shit.

….

They stayed out there for at least thirty minutes making phone calls. By now you must know what Jim was up to. I would be so proud of him trying to save the day and everything, plus they got some time to take a couple of sips of their vodka and smoke two cigarettes.

Now…it was hard for them to get Jim's plan to work, because as Jim feared many of the guys have been in the team for a couple of years now and all of them knew pretty well what kind of celebration parties the Whittemore family was used to throw. So Jim couldn't blame them if they didn't want to go but at the same time he couldn't help feeling sorry for Jack, it wasn't his fault that…wait a minute, of course it was his fault he needed to stop being such a prudish boy and act like someone of his age.

The chatted a lot and Jim was happy Aidan agreed to help him with his plan and at the end…they managed to convince everybody to show up, of course they told them there were going to be booze and a barbecue and they could chat about their game the plans for the future of the team. At the end they all agreed, except for Kyle who didn't pick up his phone but Jim didn't matter actually the fact that Kyle don't answered Jim's call was pretty convenient for his plan of put Kyle and Jack against each other.

They got in after making the calls and played it cool as if nothing happened. Jack's mom was so glad to see them when they were back inside, as Jack she feared they might have left but hey! Jim could be an asshole sometimes but not at that level of discourtesy, he was a Taylor after all.

Aidan, Garret and Jim were sitting in the grass while the smelt of the barbecue made his stomach groan. Jack's father started to actually grill the food just forty minutes ago so they still had to wait a little longer. Garret and Aidan kept talking about soccer or was it classes? Jim wasn't sure even though he was right next to them his eyes were at the other side of the loan where Jack and Beverly were talking, it didn't matter what Jack could say about his girl, there was something Jim didn't like about her, it was almost as if… she didn't mind a lot about him, maybe it was just Jim imagination but her expression was of boredom though if you considered Jack just talked about soccer, but she was her girlfriend her work was to pretend being interested in whatever he had to say and come on! They got three years together there had to be something they could talk about that didn't make them look like a pair of estrangers.

Jim heard his name in Aidan's and garret conversation and he just nodded and kept looking at two little birds feeling sick of what society called a healthy relationship, two boring straight persons pretending to be interested in the other just to please their families. His best friend! Ha! He got to be kidding him, Jim couldn't believe Jack actually said that he was just a moron who didn't know anything about life if he only knew that Jim was recording him right now for my project and that he have been doing it all the time he wouldn't think of Jim as his best friend, and plus it was all a lie he said those awful things about Jim in the locker room, it didn't matter how much Jack tried to make Jim forget them he wouldn't he knew deep inside that Jack was an hypocrite and he didn't give a shit about Jim he just wanted to able to say that he was a good person without lying. Damn that was hard! Why did he call the rest of the team anyway? He shouldn't have do it and instead leave Jack whining at home for not having friends.

"Jackson you got more visitors" Mrs. Whittemore said excitedly from the door.

Jim craned his neck to the door and found the rest of the team standing there.

"Hey dude" Kev waved at him.

Kev…that moron was new in the team as Aidan. The rest for sure told him to not go in the first place, they were a bunch of idiots but Jim couldn't do anything about it, he promised them booze so he went to meet them. With all the outburst of the newcomers Jim got his chance and took two of them outside and showed them and filled some cups with vodka and they went inside happily.

After that things went pretty boring, now that the jerks were there the soccer talk was the only topic in all the conversations. They just chatted about how awesome they were earlier that day and no one mentioned how Jim passed Kyle the first of the two goals they scored, anyone but Aidan who patted Jim's back and smirked at him but everyone just ignored him because Jack quickly went to talk how solid their defense has become. It just took twenty minutes for Jim to grow tired of it. He went to the other side of the backyard were Annie was sitting on the grass staring at her cellphone.

"Hey!" He said sitting next to her. "What are you doing?"

"Hey James, I'm just reading a little" She smirked at him.

"Wow what are you reading?" He said impressed, most of the girls at their thirteen were busier talking about boys and school gossips.

"Do you know Agatha Christie?" She asked tilting her head toward him.

He shook his head, Jim didn't like reading at all. That was one of the reason sometimes I wanted to strangle him.

"I'm reading one of her books, she wrote about crimes, they are very interesting"

Jim smirked.

"But if anyone asks I'm reading the bible" She rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry I won't tell"

She nodded. "And I promise I won't tell anybody that you're bored as hell"

"I'm not" Jim chuckled.

"James please, I saw how you stare at Jack. You want to talk to him but you're mad because those jerks won't stop talking"

Oh damn Annie was a good observer, she took Jim by surprise because he didn't even notice he had been staring. He just hoped no one else noticed or else they could think wrong.

He whistled impressed.

"I'm thirteen but I'm not stupid, you're jealous because his friends came and you don't like them"

She came back to her reading.

Jim used the wall to straighten himself but the vodka was starting to make him feel a little dizzy.

"Hey" Jack's voice said out of nowhere.

Jim jumped and lost his balance. Luckily Jack grabbed him right at time but it was pretty embarrassing because he ended up like a damsel in distress handing on his arms.

Jim stood by his own quickly. "I gotta go to the bathroom"

"Left of the stairs" Annie said with her eyes still fixed in her phone.

"Are you…" Jack started but Jim let go of him embarrassed and got into the house.

Damn everyone would be mocking of him by now in the backyard, he passed by the kitchen and found Jack's mom back to him cutting some things, luckily she didn't notice his presence and he took his chance to sneak into the house and look for the stairs. He found the visit's restroom right where Annie told him. He got inside, he washed his face in the sink and then stared at his reflection in the mirror. His vision was a little blurry so he washed his face again and again until he felt a little better. He dried his hands on his shirt and took the handle of the door when he overheard a conversation at the other side of the door.

"She just wants you help her with the vegetables" Jack's voice said with frustration.

"No Jack, she wants me to talk to me" It took Jim a minute to recognize the girl's voice until the end he figured out that the only adult girl in there was Beverly.

"So, what's the matter if she wants to talk to you?" Jack said a little irritated.

"You know…" She started angry and lowering her voice. "Her stuffs"

"What stuffs?" Jack said confused.

"You know Jack, you know how she is, please don't leave me alone with her"

"But what's the problem?" Jack now sounded pretty upset. "Why you don't like her?"

"I like her!" Beverly defended herself. "I just…don't feel comfortable alone with her that's all"

"You know what? Do whatever you want, she just wanted to spend some time with you" He said bitterly.

"Yeah go with your friends! I knew you just wanted to get rid of me so you can go and play with them!" She screeched.

Then everything went silent. Jim waited two minutes to make sure they weren't around and then slowly opened the door and peeked out. When he was sure he was alone he came out and walked back outside.

When he was passing by the kitchen he found Jack's mom alone still slicing some carrots at her left there was still a lot of vegetables waiting for being washed and cut.

"Hey Mrs. Whittemore" Jim said approaching her.

She turned on her heels and smiled at him. "What can I do for you James?"

"Um… nothing I just… saw you working so hard in there and I thought that I could help you" Take that Beverly!

Jack's mom stood there for a minute as if she was processing the information in her chip of perfect wife or anything. Then shook her head.

"Oh sweetheart don't bother about women's work go outside and have a good time with your friends, you all deserve it" And that my dear folks is the reason why machism still exist.

She smiled once more and stroke Jim's cheek. There were something about her smiles, they weren't like Jack's or felt the same way there was something about hers Jim couldn't tell what but again staring at her lips he felt something familiar about her but still he couldn't tell what.

"Hey what's going on here?" Jack said getting inside.

"Oh nothing honey, James was offering me his help, isn't he a lovely young man?"

Lovely young man? Oh god! This people was crazy!

"Yes he is" Jack said with proud and surprise in his voice.

Jim glanced down and blushed.

"Beverly honey!" Jack's mom now shouted with her singsong voice.

"Come on, the guys are talking about what we're going to do in the next game" Jack said excited putting one arm around Jim's neck and pulling him out while Mrs. Whittemore kept calling Beverly in loudly.

….

"Oh man this movie is boring as hell" Kristie said in a chuckle as he stood from Kyle's lap.

"I know what you mean" Allison agreed with her and stood.

"You know what this needs? Some music" Kristie said excitedly and then ran behind Kyle's laptop and turned on the stereo and started turning the wheel of the radio until she stopped in the eighties' station.

"Yeah this is what I'm talking about!" She shouted excitedly as the Cyndi Lauper's voice started bouncing in the walls in the partially empty loft.

"Come on, leave the girls watching their movie about feelings!" She joked.

I laughed and saw Allison quickly joining her in the middle of the room, both of them took of their shoes and started doing some kind of funny choreography that at the end was just Allison trying to follow Kristie's steps.

I came back to the movie but between the music, the creaking of the wood and the laughs of the girls I couldn't concentrate. Suddenly Kyle stood, closed his laptop and took of his shoes.

I stayed in the couch looking at them. I couldn't help laughing how Kyle now followed them and quickly learned the choreography now it was like I was watching a funnier movie than the one we were looking just minutes ago. The loud music the yells of joy and happiness the way things worked with them. Allison was having so much fun and I couldn't blame her, being with Kyle and Kristie at the Same time was invigorating, she would always come up with something hilarious to do and all the time Kyle was eager to follow her…but the best of all is that they shared their happiness with me and now with Allison even though they just met her, there was this beautiful something about them that make want to stand and be part their world.

"Come on Stily you're missing the fun!" Kristie called over the roar of the music.

Allison and Kyle make me signs to join them too. I was tempted to stand and join them, I was sure I was going to laugh a lot but… I didn't feel comfortable dancing, I just… well, you know I'm not good at it and felt like a loser when I tried to.

"If I stand I'll embarrass all of you with my amazing skills" I shouted between laughs.

Kyle went to the table and took the bottle, he gulped a long shot and then passed the bottle to Allison and she did the same and passed it to Kristie and then they kept dancing and connecting with each other. They kept being themselves, rejoicing of being alive.

All the fun came to a violent end when Kristie tugged out her phone to check it out. "Oh shit, it is almost ten!" She said rolling her eyes.

"The night is young!" Allison laughed spinning with Kyle and staring at the ceiling hypnotized.

"I know but my dad is out of town and my aunt is awful, once she made me sleep in the porch!" She said angrily. "I got to go"

Kyle let Allison go. "Damn I almost forgot!"

"It is okay honey I still can pick up the train"

"I haaaaaaave to go too…" Allison slurred. "I need…to call my roommate…" She said and then shoved her hands in her pockets. "Shit" She said.

"What happened?" I asked innocently.

"I can't find my foooone" She went to the couch and started digging in her back.

"Did you find it?" I asked.

She shook her head almost absently, she was pretty damn drunk. "I'm sure I brought it with me"

"Try calling at you" Kyle suggested as Kristie started grabbing up her stuffs.

I gave Allison my phone and she dialed.

"I think is ringing" Kyle looked around.

"From where it comes?" I asked.

I heard the ringing too and then it became louder and all of us craned our necks toward Kristie who was holding it open mouthed.

"Kristie!" Kyle said shocked.

"I…I'm sorry I don't know how it go here" She said shocked staring at her bag.

"But you…" Kyle started.

"Kyle its fine… we're all a little drunk and maybe she thought it was her phone or…I don't know" I said feeling like an asshole for what I've done but I had to keep ahead it was too late now.

"But…"

"It was my fault" Allison assured. "I…I'm a little dizzy I think I just confused our bags"

I craned my neck in shock, of course I knew I wasn't going to destroy Kyle and Kristie's relationship in one night and also I just wanted this to be a misunderstanding but I wasn't ready for Allison being that drunk to accidentally help me without knowing.

But Kyle wasn't a fool, the girls' bags couldn't be more different and even though he calmed down I saw some flicker in his bewilderment expression. The seed of chaos was planted.

I put Allison's arm around my shoulder to help her climb down the stairs. Instead of going through the pizzeria all drunk and disheveled we took the back door, while Kristie kept apologizing for something I did. Damn it, it felt like a knife through the chest.

When we go out Allison felt steady enough for walk without help. So I let her walk and then I said goodbye to Kyle and Kristie and started following her.

"Stily?" He said at my back.

I turned and before I got a chance to react Kyle hugged me.

"What was that for?" I chuckled when we let go.

"I don't know, I guess it is for everything"

I stepped back startled.

"I guess I'm just happy, I'm happy for meeting you Stily, I'm happy you're part of my life"

I crap…how he could be saying that? I blushed. Damn it!

"You have grown fond in me, pretty fast, I can't explain it but you're the greatest person I've ever met"

Ok too much awkwardness for one night.

"Um… Kyle, I was thinking… would you like to help me with my movie for the winter festival?"

He scowled and stared at me as if I was high "Come one Stily, you know how much I suck at acting"

"But you suck less when I'm behind the camera" I joked. "I can help you"

"Are you really going to help me?"

"We're going to help each other" I affirmed with a grin.

Yeah right! Of course I was giving him just what he wanted, I would spend more time with him and mess with his mind, he was a fool and he was right where I wanted him, trusting unconditionally in me, the end was near. Kyle admitted it himself he was falling in my trap and there wasn't going back, now he thought I was all his when actually it was quite the opposite and now he was starting to mistrust in Kristie the things were going to become a little interesting between all of us.

….

The dinner was finally ready. Jack's mom asked the guys in the team to move the garden table to the center of the backyard and then she put a cloth on top of it. Places started being taken when Jim came out of the bathroom for the third time that night. That was the problem with drinking too much booze. He approached the table looking for an empty place.

"Jimmy sit with me!" Jack said smiling at him. And then Jim found the empty place next to team's captain. Of course at the other side of him was his beloved Beverly.

Jim could swear she rolled her eyes as Jim sat, he couldn't believe she hated the team when she didn't even know them…well, if she knew them she would hated them anyway…but, never mind, she was bitch.

Jim stared at the table packed with oily and steamy pork, ribs and chicken. His mouth went watery, he couldn't wait to give it a taste to all of it.

"Wait" Al said to Garret who was already taking a chicken leg.

"Thank you honey" Mrs. Whittemore said and then she cleared her voice.

"I know you're hungry but first of all I think that before having dinner you boys would like to thank god for your terrific wining today and for the delicious dinner we're about to have" She said with a comely and yet somehow scolding voice.

Jim sat straight, all of the team exchanged looks, it seemed like no one felt brave enough to contradict Mrs. Whittemore. Jim took Aidan's hand and the guy stared at him with a reddened look, it seemed like he was about to burst in laughs any time and Jim couldn't blame him. Holding hands with them was so gay he feared they could summon a unicorn if only betches and I could see him right now.

Jim felt the brush of Jack's palm over his hand then his tender fingers curled around Jim's. His hand was calloused and big and even though it was soft and warm Jim shivered.

"Jackson" His mom invited him to talk.

Jack gave a long and boring speech about how heroically they won that game and how much harder they needed to train to win their last game and classify for the championship. Jim grew bored in matter of seconds and now he just wanted to pick a potato and shoved right through his throat.

After he thanked god for the meal everyone said Amen and sat. Jim let go Aidan's hand and quickly swept the table near him taking a piece of everything on hand…Jesus! He was starving.

He took a bite of the pork and his stomach went to heaven. Then he tried the chicken, it was so delicious…he couldn't believe they had to wait that long for eating for a second he thought he would starve to death.

He took another chicken leg when he heard Jack's mom voice again.

"Kristie!" She called loud and sternly. "Do you have any idea of how late it is?" The woman grunted.

"It is ten thirty" A girl's voice said haughtily from the door. Jim got to crane his neck to get a better view of her.

"I was concerned and what are you wearing? You look like a stripper"

"Oh come aunty is not that bad"

Jack's mom greeted her teeth. "Take a place and eat" The woman demanded angrily.

"I already…"

"We have guests, now come here and…"

"Here…take my place, I'm not hungry" Beverly quickly said standing.

"But Beverly honey…" Mrs. Whittemore started.

"It's okay Mrs. L I ate already before coming here" The girl replied politely.

_Yeah then you puked for sure_Jim laughed in his insides.

Suddenly everyone was silence, all the guys were looking at Kristie taking the place that Beverly have been sitting on next to Jack.

She got a plate and then leaned to grab a piece of pork and…"Oh my god you're gay for each other" She said in a high pitched and mocking screech.

Jim arched a brow and then he noticed that all his eyes were…on him…he looked at the table. Jack and Jim were still holding hands.

They quickly let go, Jim felt how his cheeks started burning and his heart skipped a beat.

"Kristie!" The girls' aunt yelled in astonishment. "How dare you do accuse Jack and this young man that you don't even know of being homosexuals?"

The way the words came out of the woman's lips made Jim shudder. He shifted on his seat uncomfortable and lost his balance, one second he was between Jack and Aidan and now he was landing on his back in the grass.

Everyone burst in laughs.

"Are you okay?" Jack said standing up and helping Jim to stand.

Everybody kept chortling, even Jack seemed like he was about to crack. Jim stared at them in panic and then nodded.

"I'm sorry I…got to go"

"Wait" Jack's mom said shocked. "You barely tasted your dinner"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Whittemore it is late and I have…to go home. I got classes tomorrow" He said uneasy. "Pilates" he hurried to add before anyone reminded him that tomorrow was Sunday.

Jim whipped his hands on his jeans and strode off as soon as he could.

He got out of the home and took a deep breath.

"James wait!" He heard a voice at his back when he was about to climb up in his car.

He turned and thanked god it wasn't Jack. It was just Aidan. Damn he couldn't believe how stupid he was! How could have been holding Jack's hand in front of everybody?

"Are you okay?" The boy asked.

Jim nodded.

"You look pale"

"It's the vodka I'm a little dizzy"

"Um…alright" The boy said not too much convinced and then opened the passengers' door.

"Guys!"

_Crap_.

"Why are you leaving?" Jack said with disappointment as he passed next to Aidan and joined Jim on his side of the car.

"I'm sorry Jacky I got to go" Jim said trying to act coolly but damn he was so mad with himself right now!

"Why don't you stay a little…?"

"It's late, I'm really exhausted with the game and everything"

Jack glanced down defeated.

"Look Kristie is a bitch sometimes but she isn't bad actually she is pretty cool and everybody…"

"I know its fine, I'm just tired" Jim managed to let out a smirk.

"Why are you leaving too?" Jack said now turning toward Aidan.

"Um…My dorm is near Jim's so…"

"But you can stay" Jack hurried to say. "The guys can take you later"

"No, I'm fine. I need to get some sleep too"

"Oh come on Aidan!" Jack chuckled. "The guys can take, you don't need to go with Jim yet"

"It's okay Jack" Jim said in a sigh. "We got a rough day with the game and everything"

"Um…okay…"

"Good night Jacky" Jim said with a grin though he wasn't smiling in his insides.

"Come here" Jack said taking him by the elbow and leading him a couple of feet away from his car.

"Look I know that what your cousin said was…" Jim started.

"No, it's not about that"

"Oh" Jim blushed.

"I know what you did" Jack arched a suggestive brow.

"What do you mean?" Jim chewed his bottom lip.

"Before…telling the guys to come, it is the nicest thing anyone have done for me"

_The nicest thing_ Jim repeated in his mind with Jack's voice. Damn why did he have to say such things? Sometimes he was so…

"I really meant what I said before"

"About what?" Jim now was curious about he was telling him.

"Of you, being my best friend…I really meant it"

Jim scoffed with a shy grin on his lips.

"Good night Jacky"

"Good night Jimmy" Jack replied in a whisper.

Jim climbed in his car and turned on the engine. Jack waited outside until they left.

"You're so gay for each other!" Aidan said with a mocking smirk on his lips.

"Shut up!" Jim said giving him a punch in the shoulder, though deep inside… he was smiling too.

….

"They are so great!" Allison was shouting between laughs as we neared my dorm.

"Allison shut up, you're going to draw the guards" I said though I was laughing too.

"Cannaskiu sombfing?" She slurred.

"What?" I said as we entered the building where my dorm was.

"Whyyy… they think wear tugeder?"

"I… it's a funny story actually"

"Tell me!" She demanded stubbornly.

"Shut up" I laughed again as I took her by the shoulder to not let her fall.

She kept tumbling from a way to other almost dragging me with her.

"I'll tell you someday, but not today! You're too drunk" I laughed.

"I like them" She affirmed a little calmer now. "I really do, I hope Derek was more like Kyle… and that I was more like Kristie, I know that I can be bossy some…times…but…I don't…"

"We're going to talk this later okay? You're going to wake my neighbors" I grabbed her and stopped outside my room taking my keys out of my pockets when suddenly I heard Kyle's voice.

I craned my neck, everything was silent and dark… I must have been a little drunk too. I snapped and took the handle…and there it was again…Kyle's voice. Was I becoming insane?

I introduced the key but…the door was ajar. I slide it open and now Kyle's voice sounded louder.

"Stily Wait" Kyle's voice echoed from my room.

"What?" I heard myself said.

"Thank you"

Allison and I stumbled in right when I saw Kyle throwing his arms to me the day of the pizza prank and Derek quickly closed my laptop and stared at me openmouthed.

OH SHIT!


	9. Chapter 9

JUDAS GAME

Previously on… Oh fuck it! You already know what the hell happened.

"You!" He said in a calm and low voice, though I could see his jaw still dropped.

I panicked! I wasn't ready for this… I wasn't expecting for Derek to stay up till late on Saturday night and rummage on my stuffs. I was shocked, terrified and utterly angry.

"I…I…" I tried to start, but I had to think fast, maybe he just saw the pizza video, maybe he didn't know anything about the rest. I had to be careful with my next words.

His sour expression shifted from me to the alcohol intoxicated Allison and then he squinted.

"What's going on?" Allison asked in a giggle, of course she didn't know what the hell was happening or in which universe we existed at the moment, though when Derek's eyes and hers met I could see that she almost snapped back to reality. She probably reminded what happened between them early that day because she pursed her lips and looked away from Derek like a stubborn child.

"What the…What the…" He started as his rosy cheeks reddened with every word.

Alright, I was wrong, he have had seen enough to have an idea of what was going on.

"Derek calm down and I'll expla…" I said but he rose his hand to shut me up.

"Calm down? Calm down?" He growled. "Are you insane?"

"Okay guys you're scaring me, can you please tell me what's happening here?" Allison said a little more lucid staring at both of us with some concern.

"It's Stiles…Or I should say Stily?" Derek snapped. "He's recording a prank video along with his friends to piss everyone off"

"It's not a prank video! It's a documentary!"

"A documentary?" Allison frowned.

"Horrible human beings" Derek hissed. "That's how he calls them, the guys like Isaac, yeah you remember Isaac? The guy who almost made him kill himself? Well he's trying to take revenge"

"Revenge? Cool!" Allison giggled and Oh god! I wanted to kiss her for supporting me.

"It's not cool Allison! He's living in the past! He needs to be done with Isaac and all that straight-bisexual-curious guys! Don't you see it? He's been acting weird lately, he obsessed"

"Actually I don't see it, because I don't study with you guys and I don't live here either, it is always Derek and Stiles and sometimes Derek and Allison but Derek, Allison and Stiles? That doesn't exist!"

What the hell was all that? I tiled my head toward her, Allison seemed pretty conscious of her words thought it didn't make any sense to me.

"It doesn't matter, he is losing his mind with all this…"

"Am I losing my mind?" I said open mouthed, I couldn't believe him! "So, it is okay that Isaac played with my feelings" I balled my hands to stop the shaking.

"That's not what…" Derek was saying but I cut him off.

"Is it alright that he gave my letter to his stupid friends so they could record that stupid video and upload it where everybody could see it?"

"You…." Derek seemed as frustrated and angry as I probably looked. "You didn't have to write that stupid letter in the first place"

What?! I stepped back incredulous. "Are you saying it is my fault? Are you saying I deserved what happened?"

"Jesus no! I'm not saying that! Why you have to be so defensive all the time?"

"Are you kidding me? Are you really asking me why? Tell me one thing Charles… is it okay that every year millions of gays, most of them teens, commit suicide because of bullies and pranks like that video?"

"No…But…"

"Is it fine that no one gives a crap about them?"

"Stiles…"

"No Derek, you're the one who doesn't understand. I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this because all those gays who are out there being bullied and humiliated because of who they are"

"No! You're just confusing people, what the hell has Kyle to do with all this?"

"Kyle?" Allison said suddenly, her swaying face went still and then her eyes flickered. "Oh! Kyle! Is one of them? I can't believe it, he was so nice tonight with you…And me….And Kristie…I can't…I can't believe that…"

"That's the problem Allison it is part of their act! They make you believe that they are nice and great and…And…And they hug and stuffs" I explained exasperated.

"What's stuffs?" Derek demanded. "Are you sleeping with him? Are you planning to put that on video too?"

"What? No! I'm not! Jesus Derek! I hate that jackass don't you see it?"

"Umm…" He took a moment to think. "Actually I see it perfectly, you must really hate him, because you put him in a video to humiliate him in front of everyone when you don't even know him"

"I know him, he is an asshole!" I affirmed.

"Yeah, he might be, but he and that Jackson guy aren't Isaac, you have no right to do that to them, you're going to confuse everybody! People will think that all the straight dudes are assholes or that everyone can become gay!"

Jesus! Why he had to be so stubborn? "It is just a school project Derek! No one else will see it, except for Mr. Perry's class"

He stepped back blinking. "Cinematography? Are you saying that you let me down just because of that crappy video?"

"Crappy video?" I roared. "It isn't even finished yet! Kyle was right, you're just jealous of me, because that crappy unfinished video will be ten times better that whatever boring thing you're planning to display"

Damn! Burnt bitch! Okay I think I overpassed…No! He did! He had no right to talk to me that way! I was starting to get sick of him telling those kind of things whenever he was angry! No, I was done! I wasn't going to let him treat me like shit anymore.

"Kyle told you I'm jealous of you?" He scoffed. "So he is your best friend now?" He said with irony.

"No! I don't like him! He is not my friend! I'm just pretending!"

"I don't…I don't know Stiles…He looks really nice actually" Allison interrupted.

"Nice?" I laughed hard. Nice? She said nice!

"Come! I'll show you how _nice_ and _innocent_ Kyle Parrish is"

I walked to the bottom of the room, made Derek aside and took my laptop to start digging in the files to find the video Jim recorded in the soccer practice. I clicked play and saw how Allison's expression changed as she heard Kyle's plan of using me for his selfish porpoises.

"I…I can't believe this Stiles" She said at last.

"Well you better believe it" I said angrily. "Kyle is an ass and he deserves everything I'm doing"

"But…" Derek started.

"But what Derek?" I said with frustration. "Didn't you see it? He is a son of the bitch, he and Isaac and the rest of horrible human beings"

He stared at me in a blank expression and then parted his lips. "Just like me" He whispered.

"Like what?" Allison frowned.

"You're doing this because of me!" He grunted openmouthed.

"What? No! Why would I do that to you?" I said losing my patience.

"Because I'm a horrible human being too, don't I? I played with your feelings, I hurt you when we were kids. That is the reason you're doing all this. You hate me because I didn't feel the same way about you, you need to get over it, you can go out there and ruin everyone's life just because of something that happened years ago" He mumbled.

"What are you talking about?" Allison said confused.

"Derek this has nothing to do with you, guess what? Not everything is about you" I shot bitterly.

"But apparently it is about you" He replied furious.

I was done! I couldn't believe what kind of ass he was.

"And now you're using my girlfriend in your twisted plan don't you?" He roared.

My heart skipped a beat, damn!

"Using me?" Allison said in a mutter. "That's why Kyle and Kristie think you're my boyfriend?"

"Look Allison… I wanted to tell you but…"

"You could have asked me Stiles!" She chastised me. "You couldn't just take there without warning"

"I'm sorry…I just…" Damn I didn't know what to say! Why Derek had to find the videos? Why? "I know I had to ask you first, I'm sorry I was just scared that if I told you, you wouldn't help me. I was desperate"

"It's alright, I had fun tonight" She smirked.

Derek coughed. "Excuse me? You're on his side?" He roared.

Allison craned her neck toward him. "Didn't you just watch the video? What if Stiles wants to record a documentary video? It is actually interesting to see how far things can go before everything gets fucked up between them. I think it has a lot of potential"

Oh god! I wished I was straight because I wanted to marry Allison right away! "It means you're going to help me?" I asked hopefully.

She nodded.

"You have to be kidding me! This is insane! You're both insane!" Derek spat with despise.

"I don't care if you support me or not, this is something I have to do" I said sternly.

"If you do this, we're done" He warned.

My heart gave a lurch and I started trembling again… Oh god! I couldn't believe that this was happening, and at the same time it all made sense, Derek just was jealous because as always I came up with an awesome project for our finals, Kyle was right about artistic careers…I just…couldn't believe Derek could turn out to be like Kyle's ex-roommate, he was supposed to be my best friend and support me no matter what.

"I don't care, I believe in what he's doing and I want to help" Allison replied dryly.

Wait…what? Wasn't he talking to me? I glanced down with my cheeks burning.

"You enjoined tonight don't you? To be his girlfriend and act like a couple with him?" Derek said with hatred.

"Are you jealous?" Allison mocked. "Oh that's great! Now you know what it feels to share you with Stiles"

_Oh…Hey! The arguing is about me, not because of me._

"What are you talking about? You're crazy" Derek growled.

"Crazy? Christ Derek! It is always, Oh Allison you should have been there, Stiles and I did this and this and those things… Or last night Stiles showed this awesome movie about…. Or I can't go out, Stiles is sick…Or this morning in class Stiles did this…Stiles…Stiles…Stiles! I'm sick of it!"

Oh shit!

"What? I don't…" Derek started not much convinced of his words.

"What are you going to say Derek? It is always Stiles in the middle! Well if you're done with me then I guess I'm gonna be his girl now! You'll know what is like to be let down because of him!"

Damn! What the fuck?

Derek looked at Allison openmouthed and then at me and his face turned even redder than it was minutes ago. "This is all your fault!" He accused me with his index finger.

"Excuse me? I'm not the one calling my girl crazy" I shot back.

"You shouldn't have recorded those stupid videos in the first place!" He shrilled.

Oh no! He wasn't going to make me feel guilty, I was sick of that shit. "You shouldn't have taken my laptop!" I replied glaring at him.

"What happened with mine is yours and yours is mine?"

"We're not married Derek" I spat bitterly.

He blinked a couple of times and stepped back as I kept glaring at him, I couldn't recognize him, he was acting like crazy, was I the insane? Really? What about him? Giving Allison ultimatums and telling me that I deserved what Isaac did to me.

"Okay, I'm sorry I touched your stuffs, it won't happen again" He said dryly.

Oh crap! I didn't want him to…. "Derek…"

"My food!" He got it now. "The tortellini… You made me cook for him" He gaped at me astonished.

My heart slammed against my ribs so hard that it almost broke my bones. "Derek…"

He didn't reply, instead he silently took all his stuffs near my bed and took them to his side of his room, and then took off his pants and went under his covers.

"Can I sleep with you?" Allison said quietly though I could see that she was about to burst in tears. I couldn't believe what she did for me.

I nodded with a sad smirk and we both got into my bed.

Of course I couldn't sleep much, all that crap kept coming to my mind over and over. I couldn't believe all the things that Derek said and harder was to recall the exact words, it was like I was on autopilot while the whole conversation, but of all that I got to learn something. Every time that I felt really happy, Derek managed to turn everything to shit, it was like he hated the idea of me being cheerful, it was just like Kyle said. I know I have said before but it was right, Derek was jealous of me, and with that last thought… I finally drifted away.

….

The buzzing continued, and he came up and down, up and down. Now the song wasn't a whisper but an annoying noise that finally woke him up.

Jim opened his eyes groggily and looked in both directions a little disoriented, though he got quite some time living in there he still kept waking up in the morning expecting to be in his room at the Taylor's manor.

He picked his phone and put it on his ear. "Hello?" He said with tiredness.

"Jimmy!" Said Jack's voice at the other side of the line.

Jim jerked and washed the rest of his drowsiness with a few blinks. "Hey Jacky"

"Is your class done?"

"Class?" Jim said confused and then he recalled, shit he said last night a lie about a Pilates' class, damn he needed to be careful with the lies he said. "Oh yeah! An hour ago"

"Great!" Jack said excited. "Come to the community center then, the kids are asking me a lot about you!"

_Community center?_ He thought and then the place came to his mind, he forgot about them.

"I'm on my way"

"Great! We'll wait for you here!"

Still a little sleepy Jim came out of bed to take a shower, he could fetch something to eat from the store on his way there.

He drove slowly and silently toward the community center, he was so tired after coming home late last night. Aidan had the stupid idea of continuing the party at Jim's loft a little longer and they drank a lot and even though they had a good time, now Jim felt like shit because of his terrible hangover.

He stopped at a coffee shop and got breakfast, took an aspirin and finished his trip at the community center. Jack was waiting outside when he stopped the car. The few rays of the rising sun made the golden strands of his hair shine but not even as much as his beaming smile. How could he be so enthusiastic that early morning? Sometimes… Sometimes Jim just wanted to punch his good boy face.

"Good morning Jimmy" He said patting his back when Jim joined him.

He opened the door for him, and when they came in, found most of the kids of the center crowded in the lobby playing with some toys, some were pushing other's wheelchairs. Jim saw many familiar faces and some new ones.

They followed the kids to the playground in the backside and started playing with them. There were a large group of women that waved at Jack when they came in, they were playing songs for a small group of kids that they got gathered around them. Jim asked himself if it was safe for the kids to be out so often, but it was also truth that they needed as much attention and fun as they could get, after all, a smile in the face and good thoughts could be the difference between life and death.

"Jimmy come here" Called Emily from the other side of the backyard when they came in. She was playing with some girls in the landslide.

Jim joined them and watched them play, also he took some pictures with them and laughed a lot with the faces they were making for the camera.

With the corner of his eyes he saw Jack helping some nurses to feed the younger kids. Jim couldn't help noticing how charming he looked there kneeling before those toddlers holding a spoonful of pureed vegetables and making funny faces to call their attention. Jim was sure he would be such a wonderful dad, thought with Beverly… Well, it was hard to imagine Jack having kids of such frigid bitch, why she wasn't there with him anyway?

Jim rolled his eyes and continued playing the kids in the playground.

At lunch time Jim and Jack sat with Emily and her friends in a table while the girls told them about the things they did during the week and how Emily did her best to not cry when they took a blood sample from her on Wednesday, Jack seemed so proud of her, even he told her a few words and gave her a big hug. It was hard for Jim to believe that Jack seemed to understand them and that he actually paid attention to everything they were saying, considering that they were kids and everything, but it was truth. It wasn't like the last time, that they played a lot with the kids and the place was crowded with tons of servers, this time was more intimate and the way he looked at them…It…It was nice, he wasn't there just doing community service, he was…having a good time with his friends.

"Jimmy!" Emily said snapping her fingers in front of him.

Jim blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Emily and Amanda giggled. "I think you're in love" Amanda said with a mischievous smirk.

Jim arched a brow. "What? No!" He laughed. "I was just…daydreaming"

"About what?" Emily asked with a suspicious look in her tiny face.

"About what are we going to play now" Jim said smiling.

The girls exchanged looks and then Emily stood "I know!" She shrilled excited "Let's play hide and seek!" Her voice echoed through the whole dining hall, making that dozens of voices started talking loud and enthusiastically.

"Oh no! Little miss!" Said the voice of the head nurse as she approached their table. "You know that hide and seek is a forbidden game. You always put the place upside down"

"Oh please Mrs. Please!" Amanda begged.

"Please! Please!" More and more voices roared from all directions and Jim couldn't help laughing at the mini revolution he was being part of.

"Please Paige!" Jack said making… Making puppy eyes. He got to be kidding… The worst part of it is that… He looked so cute doing it.

"We'll clean when the game is over" Jim offered.

Paige considered it for a couple of seconds and finally she gave up. "Alright! But I want the place sparkling when you're done"

"Yes sir!" Jack said standing straight making a childish salute.

Oh god he was such a dump….Argh!

Luckily the rest of the nurses found the hide and seek game funnier than Paige and they happily helped the kids in wheelchairs to find their stashes while Emily who volunteered for count came to the far corner of the dining hall covering her eyes and singing aloud the numbers.

Jim held a laugh when he was passing next to Emily and started looking for a place to hide. First he went to the backyard, but the playgrounds, the bushes and the gazebo where all packed with kids. At his left he could hear Emily's voice reaching ten, he didn't know how far she was planning to count but he better hurried.

Cleaning rooms, cabinets, the reception, the nurses' spare room, all taken. How many kids were in there?

"I'm coming!"

Shit He had no place to hide and Emily was already searching, he was going lose and he hated losing.

He heard steps at his left and hurried to run to the next hallway, the whole corridor seemed pretty empty but the rooms were closed and all he could see was a laundry basket in the dark corner at the far end. Without thinking twice Jim hurried ignoring the steps he heard and jumped behind the big basket before anyone could see him.

"Ouch" A voice said when Jim landed on top of a big and warm mass of muscle. "Jimmy!" Jack groaned in a whisper.

"What are you doing here?" Jim said with disappointment.

Jack arched a brow.

"Oh yeah sorry" Jim replied laughing.

"Shhh!" Jack said covering Jim's mouth with his hand and pushing him toward him.

"What are you doing?" Jim said in a muffled voice as he felt his heartbeat in the ears.

"Making sure you don't make us lose too fast" Jack muttered.

Jim rolled his eyes when he saw Jack's intents to choke a laugh. Oh come on! It was just a game! A kids game you dumb ass! Jesus why he had to act… That way? It made Jim nervous.

"She's gone" Jack sighed with relief as he released Jim.

Weirdo. Damn! Jack made it hard for Jim sometimes, he was supposed to act nice so Jack could trust him, but Jack…Was a total mess. He was the kind of dumb boy Jim was used to mock about, God! So many jokes lost because he couldn't say them. It was so depressing.

"Why…Why are you staring at me that why?" Jack said frowning

"I'm… I'm not staring" Jim replied tilting his head toward the shadows to hide his burning cheeks.

"Yes you are! The same way you were doing it at lunch" He affirmed looking at Jim suspiciously.

"I was… Just looking at the way you were talking to the girls" Jim explained rolling his eyes.

"So…?" Jack said a little confused.

Jim sighed. "I… Thought it was nice the way you treated them, you really care about them"

Jack smirked shyly. "I care about them"

"Of course you do" Jim tried to explain himself better. "Is just that, I don't know, I used to think that…"

"That I was doing it because I want to go to heaven?" Jack joked.

Jim wasn't bitch enough to nod, so he just stared at Jack in silence.

"I know what people thinks Jimmy, and the sad truth is that they are right, most Christians are more interested in doing good deeds to just climb another step in the stairway to heaven"

Jim swallowed embarrassed.

"I don't know, I don't like to think of me that way, I mean, yeah if go to heaven with my family that would be great, but I like in here" He said as his face brightened with that infamous breathtaking smile of his. "I like the way they laugh, I like when they hug me, when they said I'm their friend, it makes me feel especial, I mean, if this little and beautiful angels think I'm their friend…I…I don't know… I think I'm heaven already"

Oh god! That was beautiful!

"You're a nice boy Jackson Woods" Jim chuckled.

Jack blinked. "You too James Taylor" Affirmed with a shy smirk.

Jim scoffed.

"Oh come on! You're a good boy and you know it, I see the way you look at them, and how much fun Emily has with you, she adores you"

"You're being melodramatic" Jim laughed.

"You think?" Jack arched a brow mischievously. "I think you're too humble, since you started coming this place is one hundred times better"

Jim's heart gave a lurch. "I…I think you're over…"

Jack shook his head. "I'm not, I like being here even more when you're around"

What? What the hell he just said? Oh god! That was the gayest thing in the world and hell! One day I saw Liam wearing pink short denim pants over a mechanic unicorn in a rodeo championship in the club while the betches and I cheered him with pompoms.

Jim chewed his bottom lip feeling Jack's warm and steady breathing over him. He swallowed hard.

"I found you!" Emily's voice said at their back.

Jim jerked his head toward her and then to Jack and the three of them burst in laughs.

Jack and Jim stood and came out of their stash while Emily ran to at high speed to the next corridor.

"It's your fault, you were talking to high!" Jack chuckled patting Jim's back.

"No! It is yours for finding such crappy place to hide" Jim accused with a chuckle.

"You had the same idea!" Jack giggled.

Jim shook his head.

"Jackson! James!" Said a familiar voice and both of them spun.

Mrs. Whittemore was standing before them wearing an outfit similar to the one she wore the night before, though this one was lighter than the other which highlighted her fair skin and gray eyes.

"Hey Mrs. Whittemore!" Jim said with a smile.

"Hello James, is nice to you here, I didn't know you were a volunteer too"

"I just started a couple of weeks ago"

"Oh! Isn't he lovely?"

Jim blushed.

"Well Jack, it's time to go home" The woman said putting a hand her sons' shoulder.

"Wait mom, actually we have to help to clean, because we have been playing hide and seek and I promised that…"

"Jackson we will be late for church" His mom chastised.

"It will be a couple of minutes you'll see" He promised.

"Oh look! There is one of the cleaning staff" She said pointing at their right where a black woman was passing by and…Wait! No! She wouldn't…Wouldn't she?

"Mom she doesn't work here" Jack pointed out. "She Trevor's mother"

"Oh!" Said the woman taken by surprise. "Well, go clean then, I'll wait in the reception"

Jack and Jim started their way when the woman took Jim by the shoulder. "James, I would like to apologize for what happened last night with my niece, she had a terrible education since her mother died and my brother works out of the city and I just…"

"You don't need to worry Mrs. Whittemore" He affirmed nodding at her.

"Oh sweetie, you're such a lovely boy, would you like to go to church with us today?"

"Yeah that would be great!" Jack said a Jim's back.

Jim gritted his teeth and managed to let out a little smirk. "I'm sorry, I have to study for tomorrow. I've been having a hard time with my classes." He said hoping it was enough to make her forget the whole thing.

"What? Are you having bad grades?" Jack said with concern.

Jim nodded ashamed.

"Why you didn't tell me? We both study the same career and I can help you"

"I don't want to trouble you Jack, you have enough things to worry about"

"I can help you, tonight after church"

Jim rolled his eyes in his insides.

"It is a shame you have to study so hard for your exam, what about next week James? It would be divine to meet your girlfriend" Mrs. Whittemore said and Jim could notice something weird in her voice… It was a test…He could feel it, she was testing him.

Damn! He nodded. "That would be nice"

"Great, we will have such lovely day at church you'll see, it will be splendid"

"I bet it will" Jim forced a last smile holding his sarcasm as much as he could, though apparently it wasn't enough because Jack stepped on his feet and now he had to bit his tongue too to not tell him to fuck off in front of his mother.

Shit! As if his life wasn't complicated enough!

….

His bed was empty. That was the first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes all disoriented. Allison was lying next to me, breathing heavily with her eyes closed, though I was pretty sure she was awake. I sat on my bed and her eyelids fluttered open.

"How long you have been awake?" I asked rubbing my face.

"A couple of hours" She replied listlessly.

All her makeup was spread over her face, making it look as if she got a pretty bad injure.

I sighed.

"I just… Didn't want to come out of bed, I didn't feel strong enough" She explained.

"I know what you mean…I just keep seeing his face in my mind" I said hoarsely.

"I fucked everything up, didn't I?" She said with sadness.

I shook my head.

"He'll be fine, he is angry because I kept the secret from him"

"Why you did it?" She asked as she came out of bed and stared putting on her boots.

"I don't know" I started crossing my legs. "I just… Knew everything would be like this if he ever found out the truth"

She took a towel paper and started cleaning her face in silence. I looked at her a couple of minutes and then spoke again.

"Thanks… For everything" I said embarrassed. It was all my fault, Derek and she wouldn't have broken if it wasn't because of me.

"It's alright Stiles, I truly believe you can reach something with this research, someone has to do something about them"

"I didn't know you were so fond to gays" I smiled with sadness, I mean, I…I…Always thought she didn't like me or the betches much.

"It is not just about the gays Stiles, you're not seeing the whole picture, there are guys like those all of kind, you don't know what is like to be a fat girl in high school, to crave for the team's captain attention and then got it, and hear him say that he likes you, that you're beautiful and funny, just to later discover that it was just a bet or something like it. It is not just straight people. It happens to everybody but no one says a word about it, because it is the common order of things"

Jesus! I didn't know…Was she talking about her in school? Was she fat? She had a nice body now, how did she…? Now I realized that I didn't know Allison much, and if I wanted my plan to work I had to act like her boyfriend for real and learn a thing or two about her.

"I never thought about it that way" I said pondering her statement.

"You should, because you could touch everybody's heart with that movie, not only the queer ones"

I smiled. "Thank you"

"It's okay" She pressed her lips in a thing line. "God! What am I going to do know?" She kneeled and pressed her forehead against her tights.

"You're going to fix things up" I assured.

"I don't know… He looked really pissed"

"Come one Allison, its Derek, he can be a jerk sometimes but later he realizes how wrong he was, you'll see, tomorrow he will call you and cook something delicious for you"

"You think?" She arched a brow.

"I'm sure of it" I nodded. "He loves you"

She smiled.

"And if it doesn't work…" I teased. "I think I have a good idea to put the odds on our favor"

She moved her face to the side staring at me with dreadful eyes. "You're doing it again….You're looking at me like insane" She said with a frightened voice.

"Relax… Everything is going to be alright" I smiled devilishly as I tugged my phone from below my pillow and dialed.

"It's Sunday afternoon betch, what are you doing awake this early?" Liam's voice said when he picked the call.

"Shut up" I said rolling my eyes. "I need your help"

"With what?" He asked with interest.

"Just come here as fast as you can" I said cutting the call.

"Stiles…" Allison started in low and careful voice. "What is going on?"

Twenty minutes after Allison and I have eaten someone knocked the door. My heart skipped a beat. Part of me wanted it to be Derek, but that would be stupid, he wouldn't knock the door unless he lost his keys as it usually happened.

When I opened the door I saw it was just Liam accompanied by Tim and Cass. I smiled at them though deep inside felt a little disappointed. I knew it was too soon to make conclusions but… I don't know, something deep inside me told me that this time Derek and I weren't going to make up things that easily.

"Hey what are you doing here?" I said shocked when I saw the pair accompanying Liam.

"Liam was fixing my laptop when you called" Cass explained giving me a brotherly punch in the shoulder that almost sent me flying backwards.

"Oh I'm sorry" I said embarrassed.

"Don't be" Tim hissed. "I…We…Have something to tell you" Finished avoiding the eye contact with me.

"Tim…What happened?" I murmured starting to feel anxious.

"Leave it for later" Liam rolled his eyes. "Where is my patient?" Added leaning to the left to get a glimpse of Allison at my back.

"Patient?" Allison said with shaky voice.

"You know why did I call you?" I said impressed.

"Oh sweetie, as soon as you called I knew you needed an extreme makeover"

"It isn't for me" I hurried to say.

"I knew you would say that" He replied disappointed.

"What? Extreme makeover? Are you insane?" Allison said shaking her head.

"Come on Allison! It will be fun!"

"No…Stiles…This won't be fun at all…I…I don't want to be like those bitches in the campus, I changed already…I don't want to do it again, I like who I am"

"Honey when I'm done with you…You're going to love yourself, actually you'll gonna love yourself very much and every night"

Allison blushed and looked away.

"Oh come on Allison! It will be fun! This is exactly what you need, a fresh start, forget about Derek for now, he'll be back with his tail between legs"

She snapped her neck toward me thoughtfully.

"Wait…Derek broke up with you?" Cass said openmouthed.

"Thanks Stiles, now everybody knows!"

"Take it easy Allison, everything is going to be alright" I comforted her.

"So…shall we begin?" Liam arched a suggestive thin brow.

We all stared at Allison in silence. She looked at me and then at the rest, I could see it, she felt trapped. We were all against her and she was lonely and helpless. She was mine!

She nodded.

Now, to make this a little more interactive and funny I suggest you to play your favorite makeover song. I'll be playing Anything Could Happen by Ellie Goulding because it was like taking a handful of random objects and mix them up in a blender, I mean, Allison, Liam and an extreme makeover! This was going to be hilarious, and as I said before, anything could happen.

Our first stop was that clothes store where all the girls in town went. I called the slut crafter, because even the most boring and depressing geek girl could came out as an authentic man-eater. Of course I had plans for Allison, and while she was trying dresses –I loved watching her trying dresses and not because they looked well on her but because of her face- I was telling her the whole story as she demanded while we were in the car, she needed to know everything I knew about Kyle and Kristie so she could understand which was her part in the story.

The dresses and skirts flew, and actually it was pretty fun. I knew I could trust Liam to turn our graveyard princess in an actual sex bomb. At the end we choose the shortest skirts we could find and many strapless tops and dresses because guess what? She had big boobs! Though we couldn't see them before because they were hiding beneath those layers of dark cloth and sweaters.

Next we came after the shoes, luckily it wasn't as hard as I thought, Allison seemed like she was starting to embrace the new change in the life and she was starting to enjoy it, of course she was, I was the one paying for everything, bitch!

When the outfits were done we went to the salon and here is where things became interesting. Cass, Tim and I waited in a short dark room decked with animal print patterned furniture and awesome pictures of women with amazing haircuts and hair colors. Well, nothing was as cool as expected, turns out that Tim and Cass had the genius idea of stand up for me before Dumb ass and Moron –yup! They told them they were gay- Jesus! Why they had to do that? Don't get me wrong, wow! I was grateful for what they did, but at the same time I was so angry, they just had to play their part! They had to convince the twins they were straight not tell them that that they were gay! They were rushing things pretty quick, they didn't even know their girls yet! And now the twins didn't want to talk to them! I couldn't finish the video without the twins, I bet the letter video was their idea, if I wanted to mess with someone it was with those mother fuckers! But now… Argh!

"Stily…Relax…It will be okay" Cass said not too convincingly.

"No Cass! Nothing will be okay….I was so close to finally fuck those assholes and now everything is fucked up"

"Hey, it's not his fault! We couldn't let them talk to you that way" Tim said crossing his arms upset.

"I know…And I'm sorry and thank you guys…But…What are we going to do know?"

"Give them some time, maybe they will reconsider things, they like to hang out with us, actually we have a lot of fun together" Cass affirmed. "Maybe they will make up their minds before is too late"

"You think?" I said chewing my bottom lip.

"You'll see, everything will be fine" Tim said with a smirk.

I rose my head at the same time the door opened and without saying a word Liam came in taking all the bags with the stuffs we bought for Allison and then disappearing again.

God! Was she ready yet? I couldn't wait, I was latterly chewing my nails in anticipation. I don't know how many minutes or hours or days passed… You know how girls are…The can bend time when it is about dressing up or going to the bathroom.

When I stood to open the door and ask them if everything was okay it suddenly swung open.

Before me was a girl of bright skin that wore a mini brown skirt that led you to follow the trace of her long legs. On top you could see her tight breasts in that strapless light blue top with pink laces. Her beautiful green eyes sparkled behind long lashes, pink lips, thin nose and rosy cheeks all wrapped in sharp locks of black hair cut in a half-pixie half-hipster style spiced by a single golden cross pendant in her right ear. Ladies and gentlemen meet the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Meet, the new Allison! Oh Kyle! I hoped you were ready, because you were about to get tempted by a high heeled devil!

….

As they accorded Jack went to Jims loft that night after church. At the beginning there was a little misunderstanding because he thought Jim still lived in his parents' house so he got to take the train again back to Oakwood and by the time he got there it was pretty late already.

Jim opened the door for him and Jack gaped. Jim couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed. His loft wasn't that lavish but it wasn't humble either, he knew he got some good stuffs and for some reason know he didn't like them much.

"You have a beautiful home" Jack said smiling.

"Yeah umm…It isn't a big deal" Jim smirked.

"So about what is your exam tomorrow?" Jack asked approaching the coach to sit.

Jim went to his room and took all the books and notebooks that were sprawled onto his bed. He had been trying to understand a couple of things since he left the community center and still he couldn't get them in his mind, it was all so complicated and he was so mad because electronics used to be his thing and now he is just the dumb of the class.

He gave Jack's his books and he whistled.

"What? Is there something wrong? If you don't remember this it doesn't matter, actually I've been doing some progress since I got home" He explained anxious.

Jack shook his head. "No, actually I remember this pretty fine, I'm just confused. Shouldn't you be in second trimester? This are classes from the first"

Shit, it was true! Jim didn't get to college until his supposed first semester ended and now Jack got that something fishy was going on.

_Think fast betch_. It was his new routine, he always had to think fast with Jackson Woods. He recalled even the tiniest detail about Jim's life, like his old address, his classes, the way he looked at him, and the things he said. God it was so annoying sometimes!

"I… Had to take this class again" He lied pretending to be embarrassed. "Actually most of them" Added before Jack decided to check the whole notebook.

"James! Why? Was it because of the night trainings? Did you miss time to study?"

Great! That was perfect!

Jim nodded.

"Oh! I'm so sorry…I think maybe we should stop practicing for a while"

He hurried to shake his head. "NO! I'm doing better this time, I just need a little push up, that's all"

Jack smirked. "Come here, let's make you the first of your class"

"That's wasn't too humble from you, Mr. Saint" Jim chuckled.

"I can be a bad boy sometimes" Jack chocked a laugh and opened the book.

They sat there in Jim's couch staring at the notebook while Jack started explaining to him. At first Jim noticed his rosy hands. For a second he recalled the soft touch of his fingers curled around his and he thought that the party happened in another life in another world, it seemed so surreal now.

He shook his head and tried to focus. Jack was talking about the proper way to address a circuit and Jim kept nodding to the stupid things he was explaining him because he knew them already. He got a really good memory though, how was that possible that Jack could recall all of those stuffs three years after he studied them for the first time? He seemed to know a lot about electronics, and he also was a good soccer player, and great son, and community server, gosh! he was so annoying! Why he had to look and act so perfect and charmingly cute all the time? Didn't he know that there was bad people out there? People that could take advantage of how naïve he was, people like… Jim for example?

Damn! Jim couldn't concentrate, his mind kept taking anywhere but the books. He made a last effort and finally got to listen to Jack without thinking stupid things, the trick was to actually look at the notebook instead of Jack.

They studied for hours and hours, and before Jim noticed all his doubts were answered bit a bit, now he felt a little more confident for tomorrow's exam. Great! Jack was also a good teacher! The more Jim knew about him, the more he wanted to punch his face.

When they were checking up Jim's results on the improvised quiz Jack made for him someone rang the bell.

Jim frowned, he wasn't expecting anyone. He just hoped it wasn't me, because it could be dangerous for Jack to realize that Jim and I were friends.

He stood and went to the living room to open the door.

"Hello James" Said Mrs. Foyer, the old lady from the second floor.

"Hi Martha" Jim said smirking at her. "How are you?"

"I'm fine honey" She smiled with a wrinkled mouth. "I made lasagna and I thought you would like some" She said handling him a food container.

"Thanks Martha" Jim grabbed the meal from her hands.

"Oh! You got a visitor" She said noticing Jack's presence in the coach.

The boy stood and waved at the woman.

"Let me bring you some more so you can eat it together"

Jim shook his head. "It's okay Martha, you don't need to bother"

"It's not a bother you dummy, I like it" She affirmed spinning her heels and making her way toward the elevator.

Jim rolled his eyes with a smile and closed the door.

"Who is that lady?" Said Jack arching a brow.

"It's just my neighbor, sometimes I bought the food for her cats and help her with things like changing bulbs and those stuffs" Jim explained.

"She seems pretty nice"

"She is" Jim nodded. "Are you hungry? She made lasagna"

"That's my favorite!" Jack said excited, approaching the kitchen to grab a dish from the pantry when the bell rang again.

Jim gave the food container to Jack and went to the door. Damn! Martha was pretty fast for someone with so short legs!

He opened the door and he wrinkled his brow in bewilderment.

"Hey dude!" Said Aidan coming in with a bag filled with what looked like bottles.

"Aidan! What are you doing here?" Jim said confused.

"Don't you remember? We were going to watch the game today!"

"Game? This late?" Jim didn't understand.

"What's going on with you James? Don't you remember?"

Crap! That bad he drank last night?

"Oh hey Jack!" Said Aidan waving at Jack who right then was engulfing the first bite of lasagna.

"Aidan…Hi" Replied Jack confused asking Jim with his eyes what was he doing there.

Aidan put the bottles in the table before the couch, sat and turned on the television.

"Aidan" Started Jim approaching him. "What do you mean by game?" He said disordered while Aidan skipped the channels until he stopped in the sports one where a hockey game was starting.

"Hockey? I don't know shit about Hockey" He chuckled.

"Dude I think you drank too much last night, we talked for hours about the Maple Leaves this season"

No! He was kidding! Jim recalled everything that happened the night before and they didn't speak a word about hockey, he didn't even know Aidan liked hockey.

"James, are we going to study or should I go?" Jack said sternly.

Jim looked at Aidan and then Jack and then glanced back to the guy in the couch.

"Aidan I don't…"

"I'm messing with you, my Television died two hours ago and I need a place where to watch the game and since you go such big screen I thought…"

He knew it! Aidan was an asshole! He almost made Jim believe he lost his mind the night before.

"Come Jack have a beer" Aidan offered with his eyes fixed in the screen.

"I think I should go" Said Jack thoughtfully.

"Come on dude! I just got here! Let's have some fun, you're going to like the fights"

Fights? Wasn't hockey what they were watching?

_Oh shit!_ Jim thought twenty minutes later as he took a sip of his beer and stared astonished at the fight that was taking place in the ice. What the fuck? Was that hockey or wrestling on ice?

"Kick him!" He shouted at the screen between laughs.

"Take the puck, take the puck!" Screamed Aidan like insane. "Yes! Yes!" He roared when the Maple Leaves scored!

"Yay!" Jack and Jim cheered wryly.

"Gotta go to the bathroom" Aidan said standing up and getting out of the living room.

Jim took a sip of his beer and noticed Jack's eyes on him. "What?" He said arching a brow.

"I thought you needed to study" Jack pressed his lips in a thin line.

"I learned a lot today, thanks" Jim said feeling his cheeks burning. "I think I'll do it great tomorrow"

Jack sighed. "You seem like you're having a good time, like last night, that went home tired and instead had a drinks with Aidan"

"Yeah, it was crazy actually" Jim laughed. "I left him at his place but then he said, 'hey why don't we take a beer?' and we came here and started drinking like mad and before we noticed it was two am"

Jack rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jim asked with crested brow.

"I'm jealous" Jack said and….

Wow…Wow…Wait. What?! Did Jim heard well? Did Jack said…?

"You just got to the team, and the rest of the guys listen to you, they even went to my house because of you told them, and you hang out and are friends with them and I…have been for two years and I'm the captain…I don't know…I know is a bad thing but I can't help it, I'm jealous"

Oh! So it was it! Jesus! He almost gave me a heart attack! Did the same happened to you? I bet it did.

"Take it easy Jacky, stop pushing things up" Jim advised.

"It's been two years James, I should be their friend by now, but they don't like to hang out with me, because I'm bossing them around in parties and those things because of the dangers of alcohol and drugs"

"Jack, they are not kids, nor your responsibility, they are your friends"

"It's because you're a bad boy" Jack looked up at Jim and smirked.

"What happened with James you're a nice person?" Jim laughed.

"Maybe I need to learn to be more like you"

Ha! If he only knew!

"Don't be so dramatic Jacky, just stop trying to be perfect, do something crazy and stupid sometimes, it will make you feel great"

Jack's blue eyes shone with defiance and before Jim notice he was taking Jim's beer and taking a long sip from it, in seconds his face wrinkled and he gasped when he gave the bottle back to Jim. "It's sour!" He complained.

Jim laughed. "Just forget it Jacky, it isn't your thing"

Jack shook his head. "You're wrong…I….I…Will show you I can be a bad boy too"

Oh! He was so adorable! I would have liked to be there and squeeze his cheeks.

Jim snorted though later that night he couldn't stop thinking about Jack's statement and he couldn't wait to see what the good boy had in mind.

….

As I expected, Kyle's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as soon as he saw Allison's new self, and it wasn't just him but everybody in campus. Being her boyfriend brought me a new status in school. Now I was the guy with the mother fucking hot girl. I wasn't planning to let the news spread but somehow they did by themselves. There were many whispered at my back, saying that I was a son of the bitch for stealing my best friend's girl. At least it was good because that way I didn't have to give anybody explanations of why Derek and I weren't friends anymore.

The following days were madness, Kyle, Kristie, Allison and I went everywhere. We hanged out pretty often and it was refreshing, my social status rose in the town, because when you mixed my supposedly more confident way to dress accompanied by the sex bomb that Allison was, it made that everyone's eyes went to us as soon as they got a glimpse of us. .

We laughed and drank and got wasted so often that I felt like I was living on autopilot. Now I couldn't tell if the things we did happened months, days or just couple of hours ago. We were the ultimate team. We got invited to so many parties and got kicked of so many others because there were one or two morons trying to steal Allison for me, it was crazy. The best part of all was that she seemed to like the attention, or at least it was what I thought at the beginning until I found her crying in her sleep one day after going to a club with Kyle, Kristie and a couple of guys from Kyle's team.

I couldn't help feeling responsible for what happened between Derek and Allison and I guessed that that was the reason of her misery. To make things more complicated, since Derek and I weren't friends anymore, I got used to starve, yeah! You know how helpless I was at cooking and most of the time I was so depressed that I didn't even want to go to the store and get something to eat. I lost of lot of weight those days, every time I recalled my fight with Derek I balled my hands with fury, but who was I kidding? I missed him, I craved for his attention.

The first days after our fight I kept looking at him stealthy in class, at home, everywhere, and it made me jealous to see how happy he looked and how normal things seemed to flow for him. It was like nothing happened, as if I never existed in his life. Those days watching him cracking in laughs with Missy and some of the coders made my blood boil and heart ache, I craved for his attention, I longed for his eyes to at least meet mine by mistake, but it never happened. It was killing me deep inside. I wasn't happy. No one helped me carry my stuffs after class anymore, there weren't delicious but healthy meals waiting for me in the nights, there weren't laughs in our room and forget about the thing in the woods. Everything was over.

Eventually I grew tired of waiting for him to apologize and since Kyle used to have some spare hours at the same time I got classes I started to ditch more often, that way I didn't have to see Derek living his beautiful and perfect life while I died inside.

My relationship with Kyle got better and better every day, we teamed in the course for any exercise that Julia suggested and hanged out almost every day, it was hard because with Derek's absence in my life I just… Sometimes forgot that Kyle wasn't my friend and felt tempted to tell him how miserable I actually felt while I pretended to laugh to his hilarious jokes. I had to do my best to keep up with the plan and not ruin everything by no talking to him ever again and run to Derek's arm and tell him that I was going to cancel the project.

One morning I woke up tired of all that situation and when I saw Allison that afternoon I realized that she was thinking the same. Derek wasn't going to come back to our lives anytime soon and we got to get used to it. It was June already, which meant that the time to present the project was nearer with every second. As Cass and Tim predicted, the twins apologized to them for acting like assholes and they were friends again, it was good news, so I needed to stop my the pity party and get ready to work on Kyle and Kristie's relationship if I really wanted to finish the documental at time.

The next day Allison and I went to the pizza store to spend the day pretending to act as the loveliest couple, which was complicated since we got a rule of zero kisses, but we said silly things to each other and held hands. Kyle got us a pizza and there is where our plan started. I paid a couple of guys from economics to go to the pizzeria and pretend they were reading a book for an hour. Thanks to Tim and his amazing designing skills we created a series of fake book covers with suggestive titles like _Is she the one?_ And other like _all the women cheat_, and my personal favorite _your girl is a slut _and some many others. I almost cracked in laughs when I saw Kyle's face when he realized that half of his costumers were reading strange and unknown books that were sending him signals.

At the beginning was hard to convince Allison to help me ruin Kyle's and Kristie relationship because she thought it was a pretty bitchy thing to do, and I couldn't blame her, I felt like shit myself, but then I told her that we were going to get rid of Kyle and that later it would be Kristie, Allison and I. It wasn't Kristie's fault that Kyle was an asshole and it seemed like Allison got my point because after that the girls started having time alone for gossiping while Kyle and I messed around, thought it was partially a waste of time. Kristie seemed more interested in learning about Allison and me and how things worked up between us, she even asked her the size of my penis. Can you believe it? That was so wrong! And even worst was that Allison told her that it was a monster-cock. I felt so embarrassed when she told me that, I mean, weren't the girls supposed to talk about things like makeup and kitties? What the fuck was wrong with those two? But the most depressing thing of all is that I wished Allison was right.

Other thing we learned from their conversations is that Kristie sometimes didn't like to have sex with Kyle because occasionally when he was really horny he started making animal's noises. Yeah you read right! Animal's noises! It was so twisted! I laughed like for twenty minutes when Allison told me and so she did too. So I got the idea of telling Kyle that when Allison and I had sex sometimes I couldn't contain myself and I used to say bad words and roar like a lion, because… She loved it when I acted like a lion, I hoped it worked because I was running out of ideas.

….

In other news, while my life was a mess, things seemed to go pretty good for James the bitch Taylor. Now that Jack was tutoring him, his grades started going up. He felt so pleased because he finally was seeing the results of all those hours studying with Jack. He got better at soccer too, he even scored a goal in one of the practices and even Kyle congratulated him.

On Sundays he woke up early to go to the community center and brought clothes and food for the kids. They spent the day playing and the afternoons watching cool movies that the kids seemed to love, the nurses in the center grew fond to him and now every time Jim and Jack arrived everybody looked so happy to see them.

When the time came to go to church with Mrs. Whittemore Jim felt a little anxious, he knew the woman wanted to know who he really was, after all he could see in her eyes that she knew him from somewhere else, and that feeling hadn't vanished from his chest either since the first time they met. He had to make a good impression and at the same time he got to bring his girl with him because Jack wanted to meet her.

Here is where Ash gets in the game. When Jim came to my room to talk about girls I couldn't help laughing by the way Derek looked at us. Jim wanted to know if it was a good idea introduce a girl to Jack that early and I agreed that it was the right moment, after all we were running out of time, soon we were going to come out of the closet before them and put an end to all this madness. So he talked to me about Ash. Well, turns out that Jim's life didn't start the night we met and that actually he had a lot of friends out there. One of them was Ash. A foxy girl he met in high school and who according to Jim was his community service project.

When Jim and Ashley were in high school, she was a dork, but a huge! Dork! She even played dungeons and dragons and disguised and everything…LOSER… Anyway, one day she got in detention because she felt asleep in class and since Jim was always in detention for god knows what, they met and started talking to each other, she even taught him how to play the game, I didn't know that! Well, Jim liked her and felt pity because she had like two friends and a half, so with a lot of effort, blood and sweat Jim transformed her in a sexy and cool bitch that everybody learned to love, yeah it was basically the same thing I did with Allison…Well, what Liam did with Allison.

Anyway, Jim and Ash went to church that Sunday with Jack's family, he was anxious and excited at the same time, he didn't picked Ash from all his girlfriends just because he had an undeniable and strong chemistry but also because she was black, and since that day in the community center with Mrs. Whittemore and Trevor's mom he could swear that the all lovely and god fearing woman was a racist bitch deep inside.

As soon as Jack saw them he ran to meet them and showed them the way inside. For my surprise Jim didn't burst in flames nor the place crumbled when he got inside. Ash greeted Jack with a kiss in the cheek just to see how he reacted because… Well, she was the female version of Jim and she went to church dressed as a… Well, let's just say she didn't look very saint that day. Jim left Jack and Ash alone a minute to move his car before he got a ticket and found Mrs. Whittemore on his way.

The woman gave him a big hug and waited for him to park the car in another way and accompanied him in his way back with Jack and Ash and here is went things went crazy.

As soon as Mrs. Whittemore saw Ash and before Jim got time to tell her who she was, she approached the girl and told her that St. Peter's church was three blocks at their left. Ash squinted at her and was ready to tell her to fuck off because… drums roll…St. Peter's in that neighborhood was an African American church. She was racist! Jim knew it! Oh what a bitch! Well, at least now Jim knew he couldn't trust that woman…Oh! He would have given everything to kiss Gabe in front of her and give her a heart attack, it was sad Gabe was a closeted moron and that Jim didn't see him anymore.

Jim explained Mrs. Whittemore who Ash really was and the woman went pale and apologized by saying she swore she saw her singing that church's choir one day… And if you were was cunning as Jim and me you would notice that it didn't make sense considering that if Ash was in that choir she wouldn't ever get lost in her way there…Conclusion…RACIST!

Since Ash and Jim got really pissed with Mrs. Whittemore after that they sat a couple of rows away from her because they _"couldn't find any empty places"_ And they got a lot of fun because Jack was near them and Jim could swear he saw him listening to all the things she was whispering in his ear, like. "I don't get it, who the hell was the genius idea of crucify the only guy who could turn water into wine?"

Jim had to choke a laugh and was tempted to tell her to shut up before they got in trouble, but… He was having such a good time.

…

Friday June twenty seven. Today was great game, the day Jim and his team were going to fight for their chance to enter in the championship. I wasn't planning to go because soccer was boring as fuck, but first Kyle started bothering me with I had to go and whatever and then Jim said that if I didn't go to watch him score the winning goal he would be really pissed at me. And since I didn't want to spend the day watching Derek –Who still didn't talk to me- sitting in his bead watching movies all by himself I decided to go see the game.

On my way there I found Hip walking down the campus, when I asked if he got new videos he just gave me a flash drive and kept walking, by now he had sleep with twenty guys and eight girls, of course the girls weren't my business but I couldn't help feeling jealous of how easy sex was to him while I was still a virgin.

I got into the stadium and gaped when I saw such amount of people in the bleachers, if I recalled well, not many people believed in Oakwood's soccer team, everybody said their sucked and in the videos of Jim's games I always saw such small amount of persons in there, Kristie among them, though of course by them I didn't know her.

I sat in the only empty place I found in the last row, it was a good seat because I got to see the whole playing field and was already scanning it with my eyes looking for the player in Oakwood's team with the number seven in the back.

"Hey honey" Said Allison's voice suddenly and I craned my neck when I saw her approaching accompanied by Kristie.

"Hey babe, what are you doing here?" I said surprised while the girls asked the guy next to me to move a little to the right.

"Kristie asked me to come to help her cheer Kyle, look! There is Jimmy! HEY JIMMY!" She shouted waving at Jim coming out of the locker room at the other side of the field.

Shit! I made her signs to shut up as soon as she sat next to me.

"Take Stily" Kristie said at the other side of Allison handling me a brochure.

"What is it?" I asked frowning looking the burning soccer ball in the front side.

"We're heating up things here" She started playing with her brows. "There is an intercollege championship in Sunset Valley at the end of school year, and we want people to go to cheer up the team, I'm hoping to get everybody hooked with the idea of summer and the beach near the hotels"

"Great" I said excited.

"You definitely have to come guys, it will be a total badass party the four days of the event"

"Look it started!" Said Allison pointing at the playing field.

I craned my neck and spotted Kyle in the middle of the playing field facing a guy from the other team. A whistle was blown and the crowd started roaring. I saw Jack lunging toward the guy with the ball and…Wait a minute, where the hell was Jim?

….

The bench? Was the fat mustache kidding? Jim improved a lot in matter of weeks, he wasn't the loser he was when he joined the team! He even scored… Once! But he did! Gosh! He was so furious right now next to Garret.

He could see how Aidan and Kyle had fun fooling the other team's players with their crazy fast legs, he should be there with them, not in the bench listening to the annoying crowd and the stupid yells of the coach to the guys when they passed by them.

Now… In the game, Well, I don't know much of soccer but in the first five minutes Kyle scored the first goal and the crowd went mad. Sadly the happiness didn't last long because ten minutes after that the other team scored too. Now they were as in the beginning of the game, and the more minutes passed the more anxious and furious Jim became. Hell! What the hell was wrong with him? It was just a stupid game.

"Kick! Kick!" He shouted at Kyle when he approached the goal again but he wasn't fast enough and they stole the ball from him.

Jack retrieved the ball and approached the goal again. He swung his leg and a guy came from behind, everyone let out a cry when Jack rolled down the floor holding his right leg with both hands.

Oh my god! Was he…Was he okay?

Everything went silent and all the eyes were on the whirling Jackson Woods on the grass, Jim swore he almost saw Mrs. Whittemore trying to break free from her husband to get in the middle of the field.

Kyle and Aidan grabbed Jack by the arms and helped him stand, his face was red as raw meat and wrinkled in a painful grimace, while the guy who almost broke Jack's leg yelled at the referee that he didn't kick him that bad, but the man ignored him and drew a red from his pocket.

Jim stood when the guys brought Jack toward him, why…Why in the hell wasn't an ambulance there? Jesus! Something serious could have happened to Jack! Jim was more than furious! He wanted to kick that son of the bitch's ass!

"Easy…Easy" The coach said when they sat Jack next Jim.

Jim glanced at him with his jaw set, Jack was all damp in sweat and red by the sun and pain, his ankle was a little sore but it didn't look that bad.

"I'm…Fine" He said between a gasp.

"Bullshit I'm calling an ambulance" The coach said upset.

Jack shook his head. "I'm fine coach, I swear" The boy said changing his expression.

The man held his phone thoughtfully.

"Look…It doesn't hurt that bad" The boy affirmed touching the bump in his leg and pressing. Jim saw him let out a soft and short gasp but that was all.

The coach sighed. "Alright! Garret you're in!" The man announced.

The boy stood excitedly and joined the rest of the team in the playing field.

"Are you…?" Started Jim when they left them alone but Jack spoke faster.

"Well, things didn't turn out as expected" He said with a surprisingly calm voice.

"What are you talking about?" Jim asked.

"It was supposed to be you on the field and no Garret"

"What are you saying? How would you know that…Wait a minute! You lied!" Jim said open mouthed.

"Silence James, or they'll find out"

Jim looked around, no one was paying attention to them, the game was resuming already.

"Are you insane? Why did you do that?" Jim said angrily.

"I wanted to help you to get in the game and prove them that you're not the worst player anymore"

"Jack, it was crazy you could have get caught! And that guy got expelled, what did you do make him kick you?"

"That wasn't the plan actually, it was me the one getting expelled"

"You…" Jim breathed out shocked. No…This couldn't be… "You were going to kick them to get expelled? Are you insane?"

Jack scoffed. "I told you I could be a bad boy too" Jack smirked mischievously.

"You're crazy" Jim grunted rolling his eyes and focusing in the game to not punch Jack for being so stupid, what the hell was he thinking? Those guys were tough, the team needed his captain to win and go to the championship. He couldn't believe Jack actually risked their chance to go to the championship in sunset valley just for…just for him.

Luckily for Jim when the second half started the coach called him in the playing field. At first he didn't even get the chance to see the ball, those assholes were fast! And plus they were good dribbling. As soon as Kyle neared their goal all of them ran after him. They needed a plan, a way to get rid of those morons to let Kyle a clean shot and win the game once and for all.

Twenty minutes later after, Jim got the ball for a minute, he ran to the goal being chased by two guys, he kept craning his neck looking for Kyle, but he was covered by half of the other team, it would be useless to try to pass the ball to him…The goal was near, maybe…maybe he could…

Jim shot and saw how the ball spun in slow motion toward the net, his heart beat rose, and his breathing hitched…The goalkeeper did catch it. Oh come on! You don't actually believe that Jim were going to pass from loser to hero of the team in one single game…No, he didn't score.

Ten minutes to go. They were still one to one and Jim was starting to feel the toll of running to none stop, though of course not as hard as when he joined the team, he was a new person.

He ran after the guy of the other team and managed to kick the ball from one side and send it to Kev who took it with his hands and then kicked it as far of their goal as possible, well, at least Jim got to help with that.

Gasping he joined the thong that fought for the ball in the middle of the field, again most of the other team was over Kyle, they knew he was the star of the team and were doing all in their power to not let him play, damn it! Jim needed to do something, Aidan got to take the ball but they stole it from him easily, he seemed pretty tired. The guy with the ball now came after Kev again and Jim was alone, when he passed near Jim he lumbered and snatched the ball without thinking twice.

He started dashing as far from him as possible and now he could see the rest of the other team following him in stampede. He craned his neck toward Kyle and quickly he got surrounded again, damn he needed to find a way to deliver the ball to him.

Now everyone was near the goal, shit! He was so near, he had no time to try a shot! The game just had four more minutes. He needed to do something.

Aidan, Surrounded. Kyle, completely blocked. He didn't trust the rest of the guys to do a clean shot and plus they were too far away from him and had to keep going from one side to other to dodge the attempts of the other team to take the ball from him. Three minutes… Garret made him signs and before thinking twice Jim shot.

Garret made a half spin and kicked the ball hard, making the net tense when it got into the goal.

Everyone went mad! The bleachers made such amazing roar that made Jim's heart give a lurch, it was like a beautiful song being played inside of him.

No one shut up the last two minutes of the game, everybody was too excited. When the referee whistled all the team ran after Garret, Jim was so happy! They did it! They did it! They were going to Sunset Valley!

"You did well" Jack said standing next to him pretending to limp.

"What? I didn't score" Jim complained.

"What you did for Garret" Jack explained.

"I didn't do anything" He shook his head. "He was my best choice"

Jack nodded with a smirk. "You're right"

"Don't you see it?" Jim said with proudness in his voice. "They are not cheering the boy with autism who did a good job. They are congratulating the amazing player who scored the winning goal" Added happily.

"Look at you talking that way James, you seem to like to be a good boy" Jack teased.

"Yeah and you suck being a bad one" Jim cracked in laughs and took Jack's arm around his neck to pretend he helped him walk back to the bench. He smiled happily because he did well, he finally did something well for the team. He didn't even bother Jack's sweaty body over him. Actually he was kind of getting used to it.

….

They won! They fucking won! Oh my god! I was so happy! I wanted to climb down the bleachers and join the celebration but… I wasn't part of the team.

"Did you see that? My bad ass boyfriend won the game!" Said Kristie excited.

"We're going to Sunset Valley! We're going to Sunset Valley!" Kyle shouted when he got up where we were sitting.

"Hey tough guy how's your ego?" I laughed when he stopped before us.

"What? I scored a goal" He protested punching my arm softly.

"Yeah but it wasn't the wining one" I teased.

Kyle was about to reply but Kristie made him signs to shut up. "Is everybody ready?" She asked.

"Yeah, Jack is telling the guys about it" Kyle explained.

"What's going on?" I said frowning.

"We got a little surprise for the guys in the team" Kristie said with devilish grin.

"Hey! You have to come with us!" Kyle suggested.

"Where?" I said not getting the whole thing.

"My cousin is in the team and he asked me help to do something cool since his parties suck" Kristie explained.

"Did you get enough for everybody?" Kyle said looking at her with an arched brow.

"Don't worry, Stily and Allison where on my list from the beginning" She chuckled.

What the hell were they talking about? I wanted to know!

"Guys! What is going on?" I said stubbornly.

"You'll see Stily…You'll see" Kyle laughed.

I rolled my eyes and followed them to the playing field.

Do you remember the last party? Well, this time there wasn't time to get a bath and get dressed. Kristie, Jack and Kyle where going to led the rest in one of the guys' team car to god knows where.

I got into Jim's car along with Allison, Jack's girl and Ash who I didn't even know was watching the game too. I wanted to give Jim a big hug and tell him how proud I was of him, but since Jack's girl was there I needed to pretend that I didn't know him which was sad.

We drove for thirty minutes until we got out of town and then we entered in the woods, whatever fuck they were planning was starting to sound interesting. I mean, a group of young adults alone in the forest to celebrate… Aren't all the cliché horror movies start that way?

We parked the cars outside a huge cabin before a vast and quite lake that gave the creeps. When I climbed down the first thing I noticed was the scent of pine in the cool and fresh air. Everything was so calm and beautiful! The perfect place for a party…If it wasn't…If it wasn't because it reminded me of Isaac's parents' summer house in Lagoon and all the shit that happened there.

"Listen up everybody" Called Kristie at the almost forty persons that were there.

We surrounded her.

"Here is the deal, we're going to have a good night, because you guys won the game and my gorgeous cousin here asked me help to plan this for you, so you better have a good time or I'll kick all your sorry asses"

"Kristie please" I heard Jack say from somewhere in the thong, but the girl ignored him and continued with her speech.

"There is food in the cabin and enough room for all of us, and if not…" She said with a mischievous grin. "Well, I guess some will have to share their beds"

"Kristie…" This time was Kyle who spoke.

"God!" She complained. "Okay listen, there is another cabin at the other side of the lake, it's from a family with a horrendous and moody old guy who can't even walk, the losers are going to drive there and steal booze from his shed"

"Losers?" A voice I didn't recognize said confused.

"It is a game guys" Kyle explained.

"What game?" Another voice said.

"This game" Kristie replied chuckling.

I heard some weird noises and started pushing people aside to watch what the hell was going on, and when I saw it I gaped.

"Guns!" Said Jack's girlfriend with disgust.

"I rented this babies in a store, sadly they are not real"

Wow! Thank god!

"They are sniper paintball guns, so don't worry, they won't kill you"

"We need to split in two teams, so we need two captains" Jack explained.

"Of course I'll be one of them" Kristie said thrilled.

"A girl? Are you kidding?" Said a guy I didn't know.

"What's wrong?" Kyle grunted.

"This is a guys' game, if we're going to compete for real, let the men command" The guy added.

"That's not…" Kyle started.

"Leave him Honey, he's alright, girls can't handle leadership or violence" She said with a hurt voice. "He's is the first captain, what's your name?"

"Kevin" He replied.

"Alright, we need another captain" Kyle called out.

"I'll be the other" Jack offered.

Since no one protested, they started to pick up their team, we were thirty six, which meant that each team would have eighteen members. The first one to pick was Kevin who chose Jim. Great! Another popularity game, it reminded me of school and how I always ended up being picked at last. Next Jack called Garret and Kevin Jack's girlfriend. And that's how it went, at the end this Kevin guy who didn't want to be led by a girl, asked all the girls in his teams, including Allison and so many other guys, and Jack finally picked me.

When everyone knew their place Kristie talked again. "We're going to take our flags to a safe zone nor farther than two miles from the cabin, the first team with the two flags wins"

Everybody nodded.

"Oh but that's not all!" She added. "Here my beautiful assistant, say hello assistant"

Allison waved at everybody with a shy smirk.

"Is delivering a couple of pieces of paper in each team"

She stopped before me and I grabbed a piece absently.

"You'll see guys, to make this more interesting, each team will have five traitors, and it could be anyone except for the captain of course"

Wait what?

"So, if you get one of this" She picked one and showed it. "You swing for the other team" She made a pause to laugh of her _"Hilarious" _joke "It means you'll have to figure out a way to steal the flag of your team and take it with the other"

"But…" A guy started confused. "If you don't know who is a traitor and who isn't, it means…"

"That you can't trust anybody" Kristie grinned with malice. "Alright everybody! Let the first Judas game begin"

I unrolled my piece of paper and smirked.

_May the odds be on my favor. _


	10. Chapter 10

FIRE IN THE HOLE

We got all our equipment and outfit and I couldn't stop thinking of how much money Jack and Kristie spent on it. Damn! That boy was desperate for being popular, I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him. Now I felt like shit for the nights Jim and I spent at his loft watching his videos and laughing of what a dork Jackson Woods was. I couldn't believe I actually felt attracted to him in the beginning, he was just…Too naïve for anyone's taste.

He was my captain today though. So I had to pretend to follow his orders and find my way to the flag that hung on his jean's back pockets, because I was a traitor after all. My duty was to retrieve it and take it with that Kevin moron.

I know what you're thinking, what the hell has all this to do with the Hhbs? Oh come on! Who doesn't like war games? And plus…Well, it actually has a lot to do with them, because as Kristie called it, it was the Judas games, a game about treason and disloyalty a game in which everyone is your enemy and you must pretend to like them if you want to succeed in your task and basically it was just a metaphor all of the crap I had been coming through the last months. Living like a spy, hiding in corners trying to get as much information of Kyle as possible to use it against him, because he was the enemy, him and all the guys like him, and after the things that Allison told me the other day I couldn't help feeling like she was right and…maybe the problem were all the straight guys out there, all of the them were evil deep inside and just wanted to take advantage and ruin everybody's life including gays, straight girls, fat people, thins, tall and shorts, everyone was a target for them.

So much things were stuck in my chest since I lost Derek and I needed to let it out or I might explode any time soon.

So… Before stealing the flag from Jack's blessed ass, I was going to have some fun getting rid of all of the members of my team, and take a little revenge for all the outcasts that they probably hurt at some point of their lives.

I adjusted my goggles and gripped tight my sniper paintball gun.

_Let's party betches! _

….

They walked for half an hour in a steep and muddy ground, the soil was covered with wilted leaves and pine needles and once in a while someone stepped over a twig and Kev glared at them.

Jim was tired, what the hell? They just had a game! They ran like bastards from here to there, the last thing he wanted right now was to hike in the woods and get lost, why they couldn't just stay in the cabin a have some drinks? Why Jack had to think in this stupid game? Jesus! Jim was getting sick of this new attitude and his stubbornness.

They kept walking in silence, stopping every ten minutes to look at their backs and make sure they weren't being followed. Finally they found a weird rock formation near the lake with a hollow bottom where Kev hid the flag.

Jim stared at the lake's still shallow with longing, if he could only get to swim in there for a while, he was so sweaty and sticky, he felt disgusting an ugly now that he was covered with mud and leaves. Jeez! He just wanted that stupid game to be done so he could go home!

"Come here" Kev said in a mutter and everybody crowded around him.

Jim scanned the crowd looking for Ash who seemed pretty excited for taking part in the game. Traitor bitch.

"This is what we're going to do" Kev said taking a look at them. "All the guys follow me, we're going to take the flag. The girls will stay with Aidan here till we come back"

No one said anything. All the boys including Jim turned their backs and started striding off.

"Alright…Let's…" He was saying when Jim heard a "_dink"_ and suddenly Kev's chest was splattered with an orange circle.

Jim jerked quickly and looked around trying to find someone from Jack's team hiding among the woods, but instead he found the rest of his team staring open mouthed at…

"What the hell did you do?" Kev said furious at Kristie who was in front of him pointing at his head with her long sniper gun.

"Don't you know what a putsch is?" She said chuckling delighted. "You should read more"

"You are a…"

"Quite! If you don't want one in your mouth" She warned. "Girls" She commanded.

Jim saw openmouthed how Allison, Ash and most of the girls bent quietly next to Kev and took him by arms and legs, starting to tie his limbs together onto his back with a rope they took from Kristie's backpack.

"Guys do something!" Kev ordered with his face furiously red.

"Yeah guys do something useful and give me a sock, the dirtiest the better"

Before Jim had a chance to react, most of the frightened guys next to him started taking off their shoes, Gary was the first to take off a sock, which used to be white…In another life of course.

"No! You won't dare to…"

Kristie bent and pinched him in the back of his neck to making moan and gag him with the stinky and sweaty sock.

"Alright, all set" She said with a smile while the rest listened to the muffled cries of the goalkeeper.

"Anyone else thinks that girls can't play war?" She asked squinting at the crowd.

"This is insane" Jim heard Beverly say from the back of the crowd.

In a blink she was on the floor with an orange splattered chest.

"How dare you? I'm out of this" Beverly shrilled hysterically and walked off.

"Anyone else?" Allison arched a brow.

Everybody shook their heads frantically.

"Good! This is what we're going to do, we're going to split in pairs, half will stay around to protect the flag, the others will go to get the missing one"

"What about the traitors?" Said Ash staring at the boys with malice, including Jim.

Jim paled, shit! Did she know he was a traitor?

"I don't think any of these handsome boys will dare to betray us, right?"

All the boys nodded.

Jim rolled his eyes.

"Let's pair up then" She said and then pointed at Aidan. "You, you go with pretty face to retrieve the flag"

Aidan gripped his gun tight and gave a step ahead like a soldier, what a dumb.

"Quick pretty face!" Kristie urged but no one move.

"She's talking to you Jimmy" Allison explained with a grin.

"What?" He said blushing. "Don't call me that"

"Alright, Jack's boyfriend move on"

Jim balled his hands, what the hell? Who the hell she thought she was to call him names? "Don't call me that either" He grunted rolling his eyes.

"Aren't you Jack's friend?" She asked arching a brow.

Jim nodded with gritted teeth.

"And you're a boy" She pointed out.

Jim pressed his lips in a thin line.

"Then you're Jack's boyfriend" She giggled. "Now go and bring me that flag, my alcohol in blood is pretty low by now"

Jim sighed. He couldn't believe her! Why he didn't say anything to her? He should have called her bitch so she would have shot him and get him out of that stupid game.

He and Aidan walked stealthy for ten minutes until they lost track of their party, good, he didn't want them to come next to him, he didn't know who else was a traitor and didn't want to shot anybody and get in trouble with vagined Hitler.

"Over here" Aidan said when they were getting near the cabin, it wasn't safe zone anymore. Soon they would be on my team's area.

Jim nodded and followed him in silence.

"You're too quiet" Aidan muttered five minutes later, while they descended the steep ground behind the cabin.

"We're supposed to be quite" Jim reminded him.

"Yeah but… You seem pissed dude, something happened?"

Jim shook his head. "I'm just tired, this wasn't my idea of a party"

"I know what you mean" Aidan held a chuckle. "I think we should go and get the booze now"

Jim shook his head again "Are you crazy? Are we actually stealing it?" Said open mouthed.

"What's the matter?" Aidan laughed. "Don't tell me you're a pussy"

Jim rolled his eyes. "There is an old man there" He said apprehensively.

"So what? We're full packed" Aidan giggled.

"You're a motherfucker you know?" Jim chewed his bottom lip.

"Thanks, you too" Aidan smirked, and Jim had to look away to not let him see how he blushed.

Damn! He hadn't notice before but… He got some… Alright let's just say his eyes shined in an oddly attractive way.

"We don't have to steal it, we could go on my car and buy it" He offered.

"Wow!" Aidan said impressed. "You're seriously spending too much time with the captain"

Oh great! Now everybody thought that Jim was a good person.

"Fuck you! Let's go scare the shit out of the oldster" He said devilishly and started following Aidan toward the booze shed.

….

We found a Rusty old truck in the middle of a clearing. I wasn't sure how in the hell it got there but Jack seemed to think that it was a good stash for the flag. Bad Idea. It was like saying look here.

That was the main reason why I decided to not stay any longer with that bunch of losers. Kevin's team was going to find the truck any time soon and since they didn't know I was a traitor they would target me too.

Speaking of traitors, according to Kristie there were other four in my team, which meant that I had to be ready for anyone trying to steal the Flag from Jack beside me and since I wasn't planning to cooperate with anybody, things could get a little messy so I had to be fast.

"Everybody crowd up" Jack called and we surrounded him in front of the truck.

"Here is the plan, we're going to patrol the area looking for the other team, while I along with other two will hide inside the truck to keep the flag safe"

"That plan sucks" A guy I didn't know said at my back.

"I'm your captain Paul, you'll listen to me"

"How do I know you truly are the captain? As far as I know you could be a traitor" Paul pointed out.

"Kristie was clear, the captains were the only ones you could trust" I blurted out tired of this nonsense.

"But…" Then I heard Kyle's voice and it was then when I realized he was standing next to me. "I know Kristie, she is a trickster, as far as I know no one is a traitor and she made it up all"

"See? That's a captain talks" Said Paul with proudness.

"Yeah, why always is Jack who plays the captain?" Another voice echoed from behind me.

"Everybody knows that Kyle is the one who does the hard work in the games"

Okay forget about paintball, this was getting interesting. Jim's plan was working, the team was starting to mistrust each other, and that was my chance, while they were arguing about who got was the biggest dick I was going slowly slip away with the flag.

"Guys, Jack is our captain, we must listen to him" Kyle protested.

"What? Are you the one giving commands now?" Said another boy.

"Shut up Garret" Kyle grunted.

"I don't care if we are in a team or another, I don't trust any of you, .No one passes the ball to me ever!"

"Because you suck Paul"

"That's it"

I heard a _dink_ and then a roar and suddenly the world was spinning. Someone had stumble with me while they ran and I fell on my back, as I saw them going here from there. There were more shots at my back.

"They got me, they got me" Someone said and I stood finding a guy with his side painted of bright green.

I held a chuckle and craned my neck.

"We're taking the flag" A band of three guys was saying to Jack who stepped back slowly and looked at both ways pressing his lips in a thin line.

I dodged a ball of paint that came from behind a tree and glanced at Jack. The flag dangled in the back pocket of his tight and round butt. I was just a couple of feet away and those morons hadn't notice my presence yet.

At my back there were screams and shots. I wasn't brave enough to look.

I rolled onto my back and lied on by stomach hiding beneath the undergrowth of the clearing, it wasn't that tall but I was midget after all. I crawled next to Jack who still looked at Paul and the other two with defiance in his eyes. I reached my hand slowly and…

"Grab him!" One of Paul's companions shouted.

"Garret come back here!" Jack said running after him too.

Hey! He stole the flag I was going to steal!

I cursed in my insides. Stood up and fired at Paul who almost chocked when he saw me coming out of nowhere, sadly I failed and before giving and his friends chance to get me and started running for my life…Well, not my life but you understand what I mean.

"Garret give me that Flag!" Paul shouted from behind as we followed the guy deep inside the woods.

I grew tired pretty quick and my legs stared aching, so instead of keep running I changed my strategy and hid behind a log to follow Paul and the other two while they tracked this Garret guy and Jack.

When they passed by me, I slowly came out of my stash and started following them at slow pace making sure to find pines bold enough to hide behind in case they decided to look back.

They heard a noise after five minutes of wandering and Paul sent one of his minions to look after the noise at their left. When he was gone I felt tempted to get rid of them, but they might be useful to find Garret, after all I didn't know the woods and kind of felt scared of getting lost.

"Dude I can't believe Garret is a traitor" Said one of the guys.

"So what, we didn't chose to be traitors either" Paul said bored.

"I know but Garret? Who would have think he ran that fast"

Wait a minute… I didn't pay attention to the rest of their conversation. I was more interested in one thing. Garret was a traitor, these guys two, that made three, four with me, and the last one was probably the other minion. So the rest of the team were cool, why they started fighting in the first place? What a bunch of losers.

Four minutes after following them I heard shots and birds flapping away cawing in disgusts. Paul and his friend ran and I had to do the same.

Garret was near the Lake shooting to Jack who was hiding behind a trunk along with other two.

Paul took his chance and started shooting toward Jack and the rest. Both Jack's brave companions fell meanwhile the leader spun and started to shot back at Paul.

I dodged a couple of paint balls and crawled in the mud to not get shot and eliminated and finally saw the flag on Garret's trembling hand.

I aimed at his chest. "It's over" I said in an all bad-ass way.

He shook his head.

"Give me the flag and no one will get hurt" I promised. Damn! I always wanted to say that… Well, no that exactly, but you know what I mean. I don't know it was funny, actually I was blushing because I was acting like a dumb boy.

Garret stepped back and quickly spun and started shooting at me, I hid behind a trunk and shoot back. He kept stepping back. He was good at ducking or I was pretty bad at shooting because I didn't stand a chance against him.

Accidentally one of my balls almost got him the feet and jumped and tripped with a rock and fall on his back. I quickly came out of behind the tree and took the flag of his hands.

Oh my god I got the flag! I mean I felt… Oh my god I got the flag! I got the flag!

"Get him!" Paul yelled at my back.

My heart gave a lurch. I gripped my gun tight and started running for my life, God I couldn't believe I was doing that and wow I was having so much fun!

"Come back here" I heard Jack said as the balls of paint passed humming by my ear making me feel anxious and scared as shit.

I found a bold oak and without thinking twice hid behind it, quickly got my gun and pointed at them. Shot and Paul's minion fall with half his face painted in blue! Yeah! I was pretty sure some of the paint even got into his mouth! Ha! Take that! Who is the motherfucker traitor now? What it feels to be shot and taken down by a gay guy? Uh? Oh shit they were running faster! They were almost here.

I had to do something but what? I looked at my left. The rest of the team came from there at high speed, I was surrounded. I was surrounded!

I stepped back, and of course! Steep ground.

Shit! I lost balance and started rolling down for what looked like full five minutes.

My head was spinning, my goggles got dirt and I wanted to puke. I sat on the muddy soil and rubbed my face.

I opened my eyes and found three pairs of boots in front of me.

When I looked up, three guns barrel were right in front of my head.

_Damn it! _

….

"Oh man for how long we will have to walk?" Jim complained after thirty minutes of walk.

"Shut up, you're going to draw someone" Aidan said in low voice.

"There's no one here, we're in the middle of nowhere" Jim shouted looking around.

A couple of birds flapped desperately at sound of his voice.

"Are you insane?" Aidan replied angrily. "What if we get caught?"

Jim rolled his eyes. "We're out of the game anyway" Sighed. "I was a traitor by the way"

Aidan stopped short and looked at him with a brow arched in amusement. "Really? Me too" He chuckled.

"Well that explains why we left and came here" Jim chuckled.

"Look there it is" Aidan said pointing out ahead.

Jim moved a couple of low branches in front of him and saw it too, a small and neat cabin made of rotten wood. It looked pretty old and ratty.

"Damn! It seems like there hadn't been anyone here in ages" He said with disappointment. "I'm sure there one be a drop to drink"

"No…Look, there car tracks" Aidan said pointing the wheel's print that went from a small path to the cabin and then returned on their way. "Someone has been here recently"

"Okay Sherlock let's go" Jim sighed and followed Aidan near the place. He couldn't believe he was actually doing it, I mean, yeah Jim was a son of the bitch and everything and he knew it but… It kind of felt wrong to steal from an old guy, he probably drank alone in his cabin to forget how miserable his life was.

"I still don't get the tracks, they look like from a brand new car"

"So what? He is old, he probably got money saved, or maybe the hospital came looking for his body" Jim cracked in laughs.

"You're a bastard" Aidan held a laugh.

They made silence and crouched to make sure they weren't seen. Damn they were going to actually do it! Wow! That Aidan guy was a pretty bad influence for Jim! Well everyone was actually, because Jack didn't oppose to his cousin when she brought the idea, all because he wanted to prove Jim he could be a bad boy if he wanted. All this situation was slipping out of their hands.

Jim crawled beneath a window slowly went up and peeked through the filthy and stained glass. He couldn't see anything. First off, the lights were out, all he could see was a poorly lit stairway. Second if there was someone at home they could be upstairs in bed, though it would be weird considering that the sun was just setting. The other thing he saw was… A shape… Damn! There was someone inside! Jack's cousin was right.

He slowly came down again and met his eyes with Aidan.

"He is sitting in the couch" He whispered.

"What is he doing?" Asked Aidan in low voice.

"I don't know, I didn't get to see him right, but he wasn't moving and the lights are out, I think he's asleep"

"Or dead" Aidan chuckled.

Jim rolled his eyes and tried to not think in hitting him.

"I'll get the booze, keep an eye on him"

Aidan started crawling slightly until he reached the corner and stood to head to the shed.

Jim sighed and came up to get take a look at the man in the couch. Damn! He couldn't see him well but there was something…

A noise. A LOUD NOISE.

Shit! Jim came down quickly! He was going to kill Aidan! How he could be so lousy? He was going to ruin everything and plus, get both of their asses in trouble, the least he wanted was to get arrested for stealing booze. He could imagine the newspapers headers, _the son of the tycoon business Evan Taylor got arrested again_

Nothing. He heard nothing else. How…How weird.

He slowly kneeled and looked through the glass again. He didn't even move! Okay something weird was going on here.

He squinted, Oh no…Was that his arm? But that angle…Jim's heart gave a lurch.

"Dude you won't believe how much…"

Jim jerked his head toward Aidan who came carrying at least ten bottles of vodka, tequila, whisky and god knows what else and then looked back the man in the couch.

He was dead… The guy they were stealing from was dead.

….

"Get up" Paul ordered.

I greeted my teeth and slowly stood up.

"Your name is Stiles, isn't it?" Jack asked looking at me with piercing eyes.

I nodded.

"Your last name?"

"Stilinski"

"Well, Stiles Stilinski you have been brought before me…" I wasn't brought to him, I fell. "To be judge by the crimes of treason, disloyalty, sedition and subversion.

Why he was talking in that way? Damn he was such a loser!

"Your punishment will be execution, everybody…"

I looked at their backs. There were at least eight guys behind them, all of them aiming at me, Oh god! This was going to hurt! I was so close!

"On my command!" Jack ordered. "Set, ready…"

I closed my eyes and heard a shot though I didn't feel anything.

"What?" Someone roared.

I opened my eyes and got the glimpse of the guys looking in all directions confused.

"He is right there" Someone shouted pointing at a pine at his left.

I craned my neck and saw a silhouette moving swiftly in the shadows as tons of balls of paint came flying from its direction falling over the guys at Jack's back.

"Get him!" Paul cried at the moment he spun to face the shadow and everybody started shooting again in all directions.

I got my chance and splattered Paul's. Turned on my heels to get the hell out of there when I fell a yank on my arm.

"He's there!" Someone called out loudly.

Birds cawed and chirped as they flu away. I tried to take my arm back and lost my balance.

I felt another pull and looked up. Kyle was standing before me with a mad look on his eyes. I felt a shot of electricity running inside my body and swallowed.

He smirked and then parted his lips. "Run" He said and I did. I did run as fast as I could, following him into the forest while we heard curses at our backs.

I don't know how many time passed, but I kept lunging on ahead, scratching my face with low branches and tripping with hidden logs. It was like the night at the rave when I saved him from the guys that were kicking his ass. I know this was way lot different because we weren't actually running for our lives, but I couldn't help it, the adrenaline took over me and now I was sprinting like a deer in the woods no… Like a lion…Well, there aren't any lions in the Woods. Like a wolf! I was a wolf! Fierce and powerful.

As we ran I couldn't help laughing which was bad because it made it hard for me to breath but I didn't care, I was so relieved and happy, Kyle got rid of half of our team and plus he saved me! It was like those stories when you think the main character isn't going to make it and then suddenly something amazing and unexpected happens and it has a happy ending, I couldn't believe how cool we were, I mean, we got the motherfucking flag! We lost them and now we were on our way to Kev's party.

I fell.

Kyle stopped short and sat gasping next to me.

"Oh…God! I….Didn't know…You could ran…That fast" He said breathless.

I chuckled. "Neither did I"

"They must me on their way…We should keep moving" He suggested.

I had a hard time standing up, because my legs turned to jelly, the good thing is that he helped me again with his broad arms.

"The way you moved, was amazing" I said still shocked by the way his feet changed the odds on my favor.

"I'm amazing Stily, how's that you hadn't notice yet?" He laughed.

I frowned.

"What?" He said suspiciously.

"Why….?" I started thoughtful. "Why did you help me?" I asked chewing my bottom lip.

"We are a team no matter what, aren't we?" He grinned.

My heart sunk, and I gasped.

_We are a team remember? _I said those words not so long ago to Derek and now…

"Are you okay Stily?" He said with concern. "I got a candy bar if your sugar…"

I shook my head. Oh God Derek! What happened to us? Why? Why I was feeling so shitty all of sudden? "I'm okay" I lied. "Let's go"

He started walking slowly to make sure I didn't fall again.

"I'm a traitor by the way" He chuckled.

Well, it was obvious by now, but I thought the fifth was… Paul's minion… Did Kyle get rid of him? If he wasn't…Why he was helping Paul in the first place?

"Wait" Kyle said when we were passing by the cabin, we were officially on enemy's territory.

He climbed up the slope and I sighed.

"Is everything okay?" Kyle asked helping me climb a massive log.

"Yeah… Just, there is something that doesn't make any sense" I pointed out.

"What?"

"I…" I started but then he put a hand on my mouth.

I looked up and he made me signs with his eyes. "Silent" He whispered.

"What? Why?"

"Don't you hear?" He muttered.

I leaned my head staining my ears. "I don't hear anything" I said confused.

Kyle stared at me with his jaw set. "Exactly, not even birds"

And then I heard it, a high pitched roar that came from all directions.

"Run!" Kyle cried.

I looked around disoriented, where? Where was I going to run? We were surrounded!

I came to the floor and ducked a pair of green balls of paint. Rolled and shot to Ash and another girl from Kev's team.

When they fell I stood up rising both hands.

"I'm on your side!" I yelled. "I'm on your side"

"Kyle you bastard! You betrayed us!" Roared loudly a voice from our backs.

Kyle and I tilted our heads, now our former team was in our backs and our actual team up front.

From somewhere among the sea of boobs I heard Kristie's voice commanding. "FIRE!"

Have you ever wondered what would happen if instead of water it rained paint? Well it was beautiful, thrilling and fucking terrifying.

"Get their flag! Get their flag!" I heard Jack said at my back.

"Grab Stily!" I heard Kristie shout.

I couldn't approach the girl, the guys at my back got their eyes on me. If I made a wrong move I was lost.

I threw myself on the floor as they saw the mayhem and rolled to avoid the shots of both teams while the bodies fell over the leaves.

I slowly started crawling toward the left side of the battlefield when I heard them say. "Grab him! He has the flag!"

"Stily Run!"

It was Kyle! I heard him say those words like he meant them so badly! I craned my neck to find him lying on the floor with a big splash of red paint all over his chest.

They shot Kyle! They shot Kyle!

Anger flared inside me and drew the flag out of my pocket and rose it high. "You want this? Come and get it motherfuckers!" I growled and quickly drew my gun and started shooting at them as a badass movie star in the touching and impossible scene while a sad and amazing song played in the background, I knew I wasn't going to make, but I didn't care! It was sad that Kyle… Oh fuck it! I was having so much fun.

I kept recoiling as more and more of them kept looming toward me and I dodged their shots and then…I ran out of ammo.

_Shit!_

I threw my gun to the floor and rose the flag again, up to the sky, I was going to fall down like a hero! Or at least that was what I thought.

The ground relented and my heart plunged down as I fell. I instinctively grasped a couple of bushes gripping thigh and then glanced down. I almost fell from a cliff! Well, it wasn't exactly a cliff, the lake was just a couple of feet below me, so if I fell I wouldn't die or anything but the water…It seemed so cold!

"Why you did shot me? We were in the same team!" Someone said from above. I couldn't see anything because of the bush but I think it was one of the guys in Jack's team.

"You were a traitor" Someone else replied.

"You were a traitor too you asshole! We were in the same team!"

Someone giggled mischievously.

Oh no! She wouldn't dare….

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Kristie voice said as it grew louder. "Everyone was a traitor you losers"

OH MY!

"You were so busy trying to get rid of your team to steal the flag that you didn't know you were actually working for me" She laughed hard and devilishly.

Oh god! She was such a bitch! I couldn't believe her! She fooled me! Not just me! Everyone! It was so perfect! I could have kissed her, if I wasn't falling!

Shit I forgot my situation.

Kyle stood in front of me and peeked down. "It looks pretty cold" She pointed out looking at me with a crested brow. "Give me the flag!" Commanded.

"Give me your hand"

HA! I always wanted to say that! Please Peter Jackson don't sue me because of it!

"Give me the flag" She repeated.

"Jesus Kristie! It's just a game! Give me your hand and then I'm gonna give you the flag" I promised.

"I'm not stupid Stily! This wasn't just a game! It was a lesson to all of you, Wars doesn't have winners, just survivors. And we both know that if I give you my hand you're going to shoot me with my own gun while I'm in the floor"

Shit she was good!

"There can be only one winner after all"

Okay she got! There went my last idea.

She kneeled and grabbed me by the arm but didn't pull me up. She really wanted that flag. Christ!

I grabbed the flag from my pocket and put it on her hand.

"Thanks" She said with a smirk.

Allison came out after her and shot me in the hand. I cursed and got swallowed by the freezing cold water of the lake.

….

He was dead! It was crazy but true! He didn't even move a little when Aidan made such amount of noise in the shed, and the way he looked…That had to be his arm.

"Dude what's going on?" Asked Aidan with concern as he bent to meet Jim below the window.

"He is dead" He whispered with his eyes out of focus.

"What? What do you mean by dead?" Aidan said openmouthed.

"Dead like, he should be three feet under, in a casket"

Aidan paled. "Are you…Are you sure?"

Jim rolled his yes. "Are you insane? You almost blown the whole shed and he didn't even move!"

"I'm sorry I was…"

"It doesn't matter Aidan he is dead!" Jim swallowed hard and breathed. Aidan was right to be suspicious about it, Jim couldn't believe the whole situation. He had to get inside yet.

Aidan slowly stood up and peeked through the glass. "He isn't moving" Pointed out thoughtful.

"See? I think we should…"

"Hey! Old dude!" Aidan called out knocking the glass.

Jim's heart gave a lurch. "Are you insane? What the hell you think you're doing?"

"What? If he is dead he won't stand up and say hi. Well I hope he won't" Chuckled.

"How can you be so calm? There is a dead guy inside the cabin!" Jim grunted.

"I don't know dude, you know how old people is, maybe he just sleeps like a log" Aidan wondered. "I'll go inside and check out"

"What…?"

Aidan put the glasses on the floor except for the vodka one and passed by Jim to come to the front door taking a long sip while he walked.

"Great good idea! What are you going to do if he's alive? Say sorry we just came to steal your booze and thought you were dead"

"You're just scared he might come back from the death to take you with him for stealing his booze" Aidan cracked in laughs. "I don't know… There is something weird about all this"

They both walked to the doorway and Aidan knocked.

"What are you doing?"

"Is disrespectful to come in without knock"

"Oh come on! It isn't like you're going to rob him! Oh wait! You already did that!" Jim spat with sarcasm.

"Damn, when you became such a pussy?" Aidan chuckled.

Jim stepped back. Oh crap! He was right! "Move CSI, I found the body, so I'll be the first to pinch it with a stick"

"That's the attitude" Aidan laughed and nudged Jim with his shoulder.

Jim knocked again and since no one answered he took the handle to spin it and door slightly slid in by its own…The door was opened! Okay forget about a poor old man dying on his couch. This guy was murdered! God! How was is that… They came to play a stupid paintball game and he got stuck in a crime scene?

"Hello?" He said with shaky and low voice.

"Is too dark in here" Aidan said loudly and his voice bounced in the walls making Jim shiver.

"Shut up! You're going…"

"To wake the dead guy? Come on! Let's take a look"

They waddled in the darkness toward the couch that was only lit by the poor light that filtered through the filthy glass at the right.

Jim saw the shape of a person and as he thought and his right arm was over his shoulder in a pretty awkward position.

"Weird…" Aidan said thoughtful.

"What?" Jim asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing, let's check up the body, there is something that doesn't fit in all this"

Jim leaned in the darkness to take a closer look and fuck that! He was calling the police!

He tugged out his phone, the light of the screen blinded him by a couple of seconds. When his eyes adjusted he started dialing numbers just to find out that he got no signal. Fuck his dad's company's new generation phones! It was all crap! How useful was a smartphone if it didn't get any signal in a crime scene?

"Hey look, he likes vodka" Said Aidan cracking in laughs.

Jim craned his neck toward him and choked. "What…What you think you're doing?" He shouted with the hairs in the back of his neck standing still, while he saw Aidan standing behind the dead guy using the dead man's hand to grab the bottle and press it in the place where his mouth should be.

"He's dead! We can get in trouble if the police…"

"There is not rotting smell" Aidan muttered.

"So what? It could…" Yeah! Aidan was right! If this guy was…

"And he is not actually dead"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just a dummy" Aidan explained chuckling.

"A dummy?" Jim frowned turning on the flashlight of his cellphone.

"Yeah, like the ones you find in a store" Aidan between laughs. "I can't believe Jack's hot cousin thought this thing was an actual old guy!"

Jim chewed his bottom lip as he pointed at Aidan with his flashlight and confirmed what the boy has been telling him. It was true! It was just a dummy dressed like an old guy.

"The bottles…" He said thoughtful.

"They are outside"

"Not that" Jim continued. "They seemed brand new…"

"So what?" Aidan asked not getting his point.

"That…" Jim started.

"Are you saying Jack's cousin prepared all this just to scare us?"

That was the reason Jack didn't argue with her when she suggested stealing in the first place… It was all his idea! Just to prove Jim he could be a bad boy! He almost scared the shit out of him! What the hell was he thinking? He was so….

_Argh! _"Let's get out of here"

….

It was so fucking cold! Shit! I was chattering my teeth as I slowly came out of the water that kept trying to drown me with its slickly freezing hands.

I breathed in short spams as I made an effort to haul as much air into my lungs as possible.

With arms crossed I made my way back to the shore at the other side of the slope from which I fell.

When I finally got out of the lake I found a crowd of paint splattered walking dead. The game was over. Great! Now I could get to the cabin and… Wait I didn't have more clothes! I was going to die of hypothermia, what a great day!

"You look like a drown rat" Allison giggled when I stood next to her shivering.

I glared at her.

"Don't take personal Stily, in a couple of hours everyone will be as damp as you" Kristie said with a devilish grin in her lips.

"You did well soldier!" Kyle laughed patting me in the back. "You fought till the end"

I rolled my eyes and then noticed that most of the guys and girls were staring at me with some jealousy and others with proud and I realized the reason, I was the only one apart from Kristie and Allison who didn't get any paint mark on my body. I was a survivor! Thought it didn't matter. I lost anyway, well, my team won right? Nah, Kristie won! She along with her tricks and cunning mind. It was clever though, make everyone believe that they were traitors just to get everybody confused.

Okay maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought, I had a lot of fun after all. More and more guys came to congratulate me for being the only guy left, of course they weren't counting the shot I got in my hand, but maybe they all agreed that Allison just wanted to get rid of me in a very dramatic way.

The guys were saying all kind of encouraging words and describing to the others how I stole the flag and ran and got rid of many of them. Did I? I didn't remember that! Well, it didn't matter I felt as a hero and that was what I really cared about. If they only knew… If they only knew I was gay… Would they still thought that I was as cool and badass as they were saying? Probably not! You know how straight guys are after all.

"We forgot about Kev!" Allison said suddenly and some girls and guys gasped with wide eyes.

What was going on? I frowned.

"Kristie…" Kyle said arching a brow.

She giggled and hid behind Allison.

"Allison?" I said imitating Kyle.

"Kristie…" She started but then Kristie nudged her and she rolled her eyes. "Okay…We and I mean all the girls and some guys… Tied him to shut him up for being a misogynist"

"The power of the vagina" Kristie said chuckling.

"Are you insane?" Kyle said angrily. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"He is an asshole!" Kristie said on her defense. "You saw the way he talked to me earlier"

Kyle sighed.

"Kristie… That's not cool!" Jack said with disappointment in his voice.

"What do you know about cool Jack?" She said with sarcasm.

Many chocked laughs, including me.

"Enough! Let's free him before he sues you" Kyle said with gritted teeth taking her by the arm.

I walked behind them to hear a little of their conversation. I knew Kyle didn't want to show it to everyone else, but he was really pissed. I could tell by the way the vein in his temple throbbed. He was mad at her! That was perfect! I needed to use that! I need it to exploit it somehow! After all my failed attempts to ruin their relationship they were doing it now and all by themselves! It was perfect!

"Hey have anyone seem James?" Jack said suddenly.

I craned my neck to him and held giggle. Jack was looking around searching for Jim that now that I thought about…

"I hadn't see him in the whole game" Kyle pointed out. "Kristie…You didn't tie him too, didn't you?"

"Who? Boyfriend?" She asked thoughtful. "No, I sent him with eyebrows to fetch your flag"

"Eyebrows?" Paul asked confused.

"She means Aidan" Kyle said losing his patience.

"Now that I think about it…We never found them in our way here" Said a guy from the girl's team. "They had to meet us in the ambush, but never showed up"

There was something fishy I all this. If I knew Jim well and hell that I knew him, he was probably hooking up with that Aidan somewhere in the woods, he hadn't have sex since we started the project, well, or at least not that I knew.

"He's lost" Jack said with concern.

"Maybe they are just in the cabin" Kristie said bored. "He wasn't much excited about the game"

"Really?" Jack arched a brow.

Oh god! You had to see his face! What a dumb he was utterly concerned about Jim! If he only knew that Jim thought he was a loser! I almost felt pity for him.

"I got not signal" Then the captain said. "Anyone?"

He scanned the crowd and then I recalled my phone…No! My phone!

I took off my paint ball gear and everyone stared at me as if I was planning to do a strip tease, it wasn't a bad idea though, I was freezing after all. But I wouldn't be able to handle their eyes on my naked awkward body.

I dug my hand in my pockets and tugged out my phone staring at it with sadness, there wasn't any chance that it could have survived to…It turned on! It turned on! And plus it got signal! Ha! It was a badass phone just like its owner. I tapped the drenched screen to check my mail and it died!

It died! No! My phone!

"What's wrong?" Kyle said when he looked at my face.

"My phone died" I said with sadness.

"Are you sure? It looked fine a second ago"

"Yeah but it won't turn on now"

"Maybe it's just too wet, wait till it gets dry" Jack said suddenly showing up next to me.

I craned my neck slowly to him and nodded. God! He was looking at me! And he was even hotter than in the videos!

_Focus Stily! Focus! _

"Thanks"

"The sun is setting, you should go to the cabin, maybe a fire will help" Suggested.

"Thanks" I replied again doing a damn good job to not blush.

"I'm going to look James" He announced and then started striding off in the opposite direction of the crowd.

I just hoped he didn't find Jim having sex with that other guy.

….

"Oh man I think we're lost" Jim complained.

"We're not! We're almost there" Aidan assured.

"How you be so sure? It looks all the same"

Aidan took a sip of the vodka bottle they were drinking and then he passed it to Jim.

He looked at it, it was half empty. He sighed and drank.

"I was a boy scout" Aidan replied when he swallowed.

"You? A dork scout?" Jim said cracking in laughs.

With all the vodka in his system he almost didn't feel the weight of the handful of bottles he was carrying. He was mad because Aidan could have helped him taking more with him but Hey! It was important to take the stupid dummy with them.

They climbed a steep slope and Jim saw a shadow shifting, it was already dark and it was hard for him to see clear. Could there be wolves in that woods?

"HEY!" A voice shouted.

Jim and Aidan jerked their heads and saw Jack approaching them and behind him they made out what seemed to look like the cabin.

"Where have you been? I've been… Wait what are you doing with Mr. Greenberg?"

"Mr. Greenberg?" Aidan chuckled.

"It has a name?" Jim said rolling his eyes.

"You…Stole the booze?" Jack said openmouthed.

"Wasn't that the plan?" Aidan laughed.

"No!" Jack said furious. "It was supposed…It was supposed to be…"

"Take it easy, at the end we just saved you guys time" Jim explained.

Jack glared at him.

"Hey guys!" The voice of Jack's cousin echoed from far behind and they could see her waving at them from the cabin.

They climbed down and made their way toward it.

"Was this your idea?" Aidan arched a brow when they met Kristie and a couple of guys and girls in the back side of the cabin.

"Mr. Greenberg? No" She shook her head. "I would have paid a real old dude just to scare the shit out of you guys" She cracked in laughs.

"It was pretty lame" Jim snorted.

"Yeah? You should have seen your face! Aidan help! I think he is dead!" Aidan said mimicking Jim's frightened voice.

"You're an ass" Jim chuckled giving him a sidelong look.

"You ruined the game" Jack said greeting his teeth.

Jesus! It was just a stupid game! Get over it!

"Well, at least you did something useful, not like Beverly, what a boring and frigid bitch" Kristie mocked.

"Hey don't talk to her like…" Jack was saying when suddenly he jerked his head toward his cousin again. "I hadn't see her in the whole…." He said with shaky voice. "Where…Where is she?"

Oh my god! Jack forgot about his girl! He forgot about her! Oh this was too good to be true! Of course Jim didn't know this but… I heard him asking about Jim all concerned and he didn't even know where his girl was! This was so perfect!

"She is the cabin all mad because I shot her"

"She was in your team!" Jack said angrily.

"She didn't want to play in the first place" She defended herself. "Go, she's upstairs, I'll take the bottles and warm things up" She smirked.

Jack rolled his eyes and they started following them to the front side when Jack took Jim by his arm.

"Come here" He grunted digging his nails in Jim's arm. Damn! He needed to trim them because…He was hurting him!

"What's going on?" Jim said grimacing when everyone left.

"Why you left with Aidan? You ruined the prank" Jack said with his jaw set.

"You're doing pranks now?" Jim arched a brow amused.

"You didn't have to get in the cabin. What were you planning? Scare the poor old man?"

"What if I was planning to do it?" Jim snorted. Okay maybe it was the alcohol but Jim was sick of Jack's attitude.

"It was Aidan's idea doesn't it?" Jack said harshly. "He convinced you to go there before time just to mess everything up"

Jim shook his head, why he was acting like an ass all suddenly? "It was my idea, I was dying of boring with the game and wanted something to drink"

It was a lie of course, but who cares?

"What? Why? I planned this for weeks! I thought you would like it!" Jack reproached hurt.

"Why are you so desperate to be popular? The guys liked the game! You did it right, take it easy now"

"I did it for you!"

Oh crap! Here we go! Jack's inappropriate affirmations out of the blue!

Jim blushed. "You…You…" And of course Jim was blabbing, and yup! He excused with himself by blaming the alcohol, but deep inside he was just mad because Jack always said those stupid things to him, taking by surprise. "Shouldn't have! Stop trying to play the bad boy Jacky"

Jim pointed at the Mr. Greenberg who was now hanging at Aidan's back while the boy pretended that both of them were drunkards just to amuse the crowd.

"You suck at it" He affirmed with a chuckle taking Jack by the shoulder to guide him to the entrance of the cabin, where the party was just starting.

….

It was pitch dark already, the woods were peaceful and the air was bitter cold. Someone lit a fire before the shore of the lake. Shivering I neared it and sat in a log. I stretched my hands and put them near the flames. I stayed there alone for a couple of minutes listening to the lulling snapping of the twigs ablaze until I saw a shape with the corner of my eye and someone sat next to me.

"Take, it will warm you up" Kristie said offering me a bottle of god knows what.

"You stole from that guy after all uh?" I said arching a brow as I took the bottle and gulped. It was Tequila. Damn! It was sour and hot as hell, but she was right, it helped a little.

"Are we cool?" She asked with concern.

I sighed. I couldn't be mad at her, but I wanted to, I was freezing because of her after all.

"You should take of those clothes" Kyle suggested sitting on my right accompanied by Allison.

"No, I'm fine" I replied listlessly.

"I'm serious Stily, you could get a cold" Kyle said sternly.

"Its okay, ain't like I'm going to die or anything" I joked.

"Come on, it's for your health" He said grasping the hem of my shirt and pulling it up.

I looked up in panic. Most of the guys and girls where near the cabin having drinks and laughing, and no one was paying attention to us… Yet… I felt so embarrassed, my heart throbbed and my mouth went dry…What if they saw me? God! It was enough torture to dress like a male slut for the project, I wasn't going to strip off my clothes! Hell no!

"I'm fine Kyle" I said biting my bottom lip.

"Stily but…" He started pulling harder as I squatted.

"Leave me alone! ¿Okay?" I grunted standing up.

"Stiles!" Allison said shocked. Both Kristie and her stared at me as if I was mad and now I noticed the eyes of the rest of the people on me. Damn! I didn't know I yelled at him that badly! Great now I passed from my hero status to freak.

"I'm… I'm sorry"

"What if…" Kyle started.

"I'm fine this way, I promise" I said sitting back to not call anyone's attention and breathed out heavily felling my cheeks burning. Why…? Why I had to be so dumb? It was just skin, everyone had skin, everyone got naked every day, even Kyle, though he had abs, and nice legs and…Damn now I was picturing Kyle naked in my mind!

I shook my head and pretended a smile. "I'm fine" Assured.

"You gave me an idea" Kristie said…Oh no! She got the "_look"_! You know, the one she got every time she had one of her hilarious ideas that always ended with me doing something stupid or embarrassing or both.

"Come here" She muttered to Allison.

Both of them stood and walked a couple of feet away from us.

I reached the flames again to feel some warmth and stayed like that for a couple of minutes until they were back.

"Kristie what are you up to?" Kyle said dreadful.

"Everybody it's time for some strip poker!"

"Someone said poker?" Said Jim's voice cheerfully as he joined us taking a drink from a cup he was holding.

"Well, it isn't actual poker, I don't know what name put to it" Kristie said with some embarrassment in her voice.

"What it is about?" Asked a couple of guys that came accompanied girls who seemed pretty excited.

"It's simple, I'm gonna take a deck of cards and we're going to sit in a circle. Everyone will take two cards, the person at your right will take another card for you, if the card that has been drawn is set between those two numbers of your first cards, you lose but if it isn't, he or she loses"

"And what is the punishment?" Jim asked.

"Thanks for asking boyfriend" She giggled and waved at Allison and Ashley who were carrying some bottles with them.

"The losers will have to take a sip of my badass cocktail of scotch, vodka, tequila, rum and beer"

Eugh! Disgusting!

"Just that? I thought you said…." Jim was saying when she interrupted him.

"And take off a garment" She giggled.

Everyone whooped. Okay it was time to go!

I took advantage that everyone was staring at Kristie as if she was insane and slowly stepped back until I was sure they didn't notice my absence, so I tugged out my phone with sadness and sat in the roots of a massive oak, hating myself, my body, and the cold air of the night.

….

Meanwhile I was on my pity party, Jim was pretty excited about the idea of striping off in the game. You know how he was! A total peacock, and a motherfucking good cards' player. Well, in my defense you know what they say. Those with bad luck in love are lucky in the game.

Maybe it was just the night, or the lake, or that he drank almost a whole bottle of vodka alone with Aidan, or the fact that he didn't like Kristie much but… He was eager to kick everyone's asses in the game, and he couldn't wait to strip Kristie off from all her clothes in front of everyone.

"Take a seat everybody" She announced.

"Wait, what if someone draws two cards with the same number?" He asked arching a brow.

"Then that person is really lucky" She laughed. "Don't worry, at each turn we'll draw new cards, so everyone is going to end up in the lake at some point"

Some girls exchanged thrilled looks and then stared at Kristie and Allison expectantly.

"When you're on small clothes you will have to take them off and get into the lake, so if someone is thinking about chickening out this is the moment"

Jim looked around and even though everyone seemed a little overwhelmed he could see that the alcohol was already whispering in their ears _"Let's do this"_

"Alright, Allison" She called, and with a sinister grin Allison took a deck of cards from a bag and put it in the middle of the circle, next to the fire.

Everyone took two cards.

"Wait! I'm here, I'm here" Jack said making Aidan aside to take seat next to Jim.

"Um… Jacky, I don't think you would like this game" He said chocking a laugh.

Jack frowned with a brief grin "Why?"

"Where is Beverly Jacky?" Kristie asked with a devilish grin on her face. "Why don't you invite her to come?"

Jack pressed his lips in a thin line. "She's not feeling well, too much bugs"

Jim and Kristie met their eyes and it seemed like they both were thinking the same, because apart from Jim, Kristie didn't hide her chuckle.

"Okay let's start" Kristie said turning toward the guy at her right.

"Jack…" Jim muttered with concern while Jack drew his cards and everybody cracked in laughs when the guy next to Kristie started taking off his shoes to later take a sip of the badass cocktail with an awful grimace on his face.

"What?" Said Jack without looking at him.

"You should go, this game isn't your thing"

"Why?"

"Because it is about…"

"I heard Kristie Jimmy, I know how to play" Jack smirked.

Jim rolled his eyes. "So what? Are you going to strip now?" He avoided the idea of Jack naked and focused in the fact of Jack considering doing it.

Jack drew a card for Aidan. Another shot and another garment off.

It was Jim's turn to take a card for Jack, damn! what he was going to do? Jack and his stupid ideas of playing the bad boy! He wasn't cool at all! He was a dork! And doing all that just to please the crowd was making Jim sick because he wasn't even good at it and he was going to regret it the next day!

"Jimmy" Allison urged him.

Jim glared at her and drew the card. It was a six and since Jack got a two and a five, it meant that…

Jack stood and took off his shirt, revealing his bulky and masculine chest and those abs… Jim looked away.

"The drink now cousin" Kristie said with a grin.

"Jack…Jack…Jack…Jack" Everyone was echoing excited. Of course they did. No one ever though that Jackson Woods, Mr. Good Jackaritan himself could be able of such a thing, and the worst part was that it was all because he wanted to prove a point.

Jack took the cup in his hand and looked at his crowd with excitement. He took it to his lips and gulped it all in a second.

He glanced down at the startled faces with his mouthful and then he chocked.

Everyone leaned awaiting for him to puke but with effort he swallowed and there was a big cheer in the circle.

Jim rolled his eyes, he was sick of him, his attitude and of thinking he could play games and pretend to be someone he knew he wasn't.

"Your turn boyfriend" Kristie said when the crowd chilled.

The girl next to Jim drew a card for him. He got two fives so…It was impossible for him to lose, as I said Jim was damn lucky for those games.

When everyone saw Jim's cards they quickly turned toward the girl.

"Boobs!" Kristie shouted cracking in laughs.

_You wanna be a bad boy Jack? Get ready to see one in action._

"Wait" He said in loud voice.

All the eyes were on him now. Jim stood up and grabbed the cup that Allison was preparing with the disgusting mix and swallowed it whole in a sip, it tasted awful, you couldn't tell any of the flavors, but he was used to those kind of shits, so with a bitter grin he threw the cup in the floor and everyone cheered.

"What…" Kristie started but Jim ignored her and before everyone got a chance to react he quickly took off all his clothes, undies included.

"Oh my god!" Many girls said blushing and looking away.

"This is game is too lame for a taste" Jim said with the most badass grin in the world.

He turned and slowly walked away from them to get into the lake.

"That's the attitude everybody!" Kristie shouted between laughs.

He could feel them, their eyes, everyone looking at him openmouthed, he didn't matter though. He was comfortable with the whole situation. That was Jim, self-confident no matter what. God I envied him so much! Why I couldn't be like him? He didn't have a great body! Actually his arms were as scrawny as mine! But somehow, he always looked so cool and awesome! I wished I could be like him.

Without thinking twice he jumped into the lake feeling the bitter cold water refreshing his warm body, he finally felt clean, a little drowsy and more alive than ever.

"What's going on?" He shouted. "Are you still playing that boring game?" He laughed.

He was near enough to still get a glimpse of the shocked faces, though… Some of those, got some defiance in their eyes, he was daring them and they were falling.

"Change of rules everybody!" Kristie said meeting her eyes with Jim and he could see how her face turned into the Challenge accepted meme.

Now if you lose you would have to do the same that Jim did. Which meant a mayhem!

Some girls got out of the game when their turn came, but at least five others stayed and of course… Most of the guys, including Jack.

Damn that boy was dumb!

And that's how everything started, bit a bit the players were losing to later walk to the shore and strip off of their clothes, and of course whine because of how cold the water was, it was just perfect.

_Let's see how bad you are Jacky_.

It didn't matter how many times it was Kristie's turn, she never lost and Jim was starting to get anxious, the same happened with Jack, it was like both of them were pretty lucky at the game…Or maybe…Maybe she was cheating somehow, but why? If that was her idea why cheat then?

It was Aidan's turn and there was a loud laugh announcing he lost, so he stood, took off all his clothes and ran to the lake to meet Jim and the rest of the losers.

"Damn it's cold!" He chuckled as he joined Jim and offered him a cup.

Jim took it and sipped. He was starting to feel a little dizzy.

"Jack!" Kristie urged him.

They boy snapped back to real life, detached his eyes from the lake and prepared for his turn.

Was he...? Was he really going to do it? Was that the reason he was looking at the lake that way?

Jack stood and then Jim heard Beverly's voice calling her boyfriend. Jack turned toward her, Jim couldn't hear well what they were saying but Kristie was shouting things at them.

Jack looked at the lake and then at Kristie and Beverly and grabbed his shirt to then follow his girl toward the cabin.

"What a pussy" Aidan giggled snatching the cup from Jim's hand to take a gulp.

The party was now into the water. Boys and girls were splashing each other and playing dumb games like shark, the monster of the lake, and some others just made out.

Finally the last guy got into the water and Jim sighed, damn! Kristie was really good didn't she?

"New game people!" She suddenly shouted from the shore and everyone stared at Allison, Ash and her expectantly. "It's called find your clothes!"

_What?_

….

"Stupid phone" I ranted as I took off its battery and inserted it again for the millionth time and it still wouldn't turn on and actually it was leaking some water.

I took it off again and heard some weird noises at my back, those morons seemed to be having a lot of fun.

I sighed and put it on again, when I heard the click, the screen went alive and I whooped with relief and joy. It was alive! It was alive! And…It got an incoming call!

Derek.

My heart gave a lurch when I read his name, why…Why was he calling me? Was he concerned because I hadn't get home yet? Did that mean that he wanted to apologize?

I freaked out and almost dropped the phone and then tapped it to accept the call.

"Um…Hi?" I said with shaky voice.

"Where is Allison?" He grunted.

What the hell? He called to ask me about her? Argh! I was so….

"She has a phone if you didn't know" I replied sharply. I couldn't believe him!

"She is not picking it up" He said sternly. "And since she's your girlfriend now…"

"She is not my girlfriend and you know it" I roared. "So what…You're back together again?"

I chewed my bottom lip. How...What an ass! They were back together and he called me to know about her! I wanted to be in front of him and kick his ass! I didn't care how big he was now! I could take him, I was sure of it.

"I'm not back with anyone, I left some movies in her dorm and I want them back"

"Cool, I'll tell her when she is done with the skinny dipping with those guys in the lake" I said angrily.

"Fine!" He grumbled.

"FINE!" I replied between sharp breathings.

"Call your parents by the way, they're driving my mom insane" He said and then hung the call.

I gasped.

What? Again? What…What could have…?

I heard shouts…No, screams…Yells.

I snapped my neck and came out of the Oak. There were yells, furious yells but…All I could see was people into the lake and… Three naked figures in the shore. Yeah you read well! Naked and worst! One of them was Kyle and…Oh my god he was coming straight to me. He was coming straight to me!

"Kyle…." I started looking away. _Don't stare, don't stare at his…Argh! _

"Have you seem Kristie?" He growled and for a moment I forgot that he was naked.

"What…What happened?" I said a little preoccupied.

"She stole everyone's clothes and got in the forest along with Allison and James' girl"

"She did what?" I said openmouthed.

He snarled, like a feral beast. Okay I just hoped he wasn't in sexual mode.

"Damn it" He said out of his mind getting into the darkness.

"Kyle wait!" I called running after him. "I'll help you"

"Kristie!" He roared starting to run.

"Kyle, it is dark! You're going to fall or get bitten by something!"

"I don't care. Kristie!"

I started following him… No to get a better view of his you know what! No! I wasn't able of such thing! I was just going to make sure he didn't end up being a bear's meal. Were…Were bears in there? I hoped not.

He kept running like an animal while I followed him and after five minutes he suddenly stopped and stared at a bush below him. Oh please don't lean…Don't lean you asshole!

Crap he did it!

"A pair of short pants" He said with disappointment. "Well, at least is something"

He put them on and Oh my god! Those were girls' short pants, Oh my god! I was tempted to throw myself to the floor and die of a laugh attack, I hoped I got that in the camera, please moonlight tell me that ….The Lake! My camera got into the lake with me! No! Fuck! I lost all the footage from that day! Shit! I was going to kill Kristie and Allison!

"Kristie!" Kyle roared again and kept running and then we found her in a clearing putting clothes here and there in the low branches as if they were Christmas trees' ornaments.

She turned toward us. "Oh hey!" She said giggling.

What the fuck?

"What the hell you think you're doing?" Kyle yelled loudly.

"I…Was just…" She started but he cut her off.

"You were what uh?"

"I was… Just messing…"

"Messing? Bullshit! You stole everyone's clothes, the girls don't want to come out of the lake because of you!"

"I'm just kidding with them…I…"

"You what Kristie?"

Oh shit! This was getting out of control.

"First you tied Kev, then made Jack's girl cry and now this? What the fuck is wrong with you? You think this is funny?"

"Kyle I think we should…" I started.

"Shut up Stily" He warned me.

"Honey…"

"No Kristie! You got no excuse! You're fucked up! You need help! This pranks are out of control!"

Jesus! he was stepping over the line.

"You think it's funny, but it isn't! You're acting like a stupid little girl, making everybody get mad at you and me!"

"Kyle" I said taking by the arm.

"Don't touch me!" He roared striding off. "I'm out of here"

I…I was so shocked! I didn't know what to do! This was so unexpected.

I looked at Kristie who started sobbing in her place and then craned my neck toward Kyle who was already walking away and followed him.

I walked at safe distant from him for what looked like hours and instead of going to the cabin he went to a more private part of the lake. He sat in the shore and I did the same next to him.

"I'm sorry" He said calmer now.

Sorry? Sorry? Was he insane? Did he saw the way his girl was crying? He was an asshole! Yeah she made some mistakes but… He had no right to talk to her that way and by the way she…. Wait a minute!

THEY HAD A FIGHT!

Oh my god they had a fight! The perfect couple had a fight! I couldn't believe I was mad at him! I concentrated too much on ruining their relationship that I didn't notice that they were doing it all by themselves. Now I could rejoice and forget about guilt because they were doing all the job for me. They just needed a push and Kyle would break up with her and then he would need a friend… A best friend! And I was going to be there for him, just like I was right now! The same way I was once for Isaac.

God! I was so happy I could have kissed him.

….

Ten minutes after Kyle left along with Paul and some other guy Kristie came trudging to the shore carrying everyone's clothes in her hands. All the girls started shouting things at her and ran to the shore to get dressed.

When they got there Kristie ran away covering her face with her hands…What could have happened?

"That girl is mad" Aidan chuckled.

"She is a bitch" Kev added.

"I don't know…" Jim said thoughtful.

"What? You like her or something? She's Kyle's girl" Aidan reminded him.

"No, it's not that" Jim shook his head. "I think everyone is overreacting that's all"

"Overreacting?" Aidan said openmouthed. "She stole our clothes"

"And she tied me" Kev added.

"So what? We would have them back anyway, it wasn't like she was going to burn them or anything"

Aidan and Kev exchanged looks.

"The cup is empty, I need a drink" Jim said passing by them and going to the shore to retrieve his clothes and dress up.

While he got dressed he spotted a couple of bottles next the lonely fire. He took one without stopping to see what it was and took a long sip. He wasn't sure why but he was mad, maybe it was because of Kristie's prank or because he was tired and wanted to rest…Or because Jack didn't join them in the lake or because Jack considered join them in the lake. It was a bit confusing, it was hard for him to think straight with such amount of alcohol in his body.

He turned and saw Kev beckoning him to bring the bottle to them in the lake but Jim ignored him, he wasn't in the mood to hang out with them right now.

Neither wanted to go the cabin, most of the people was there either ranting about Kristie or just getting more and more drunker, so, he just waddled in the opposite direction, following his steps with an empty mind while he stared at the ghostly pale moon in the top of the sky accompanied by thousands stars that shone in a way impossible to see from the city.

Half a mile away from the cabin he found a big and perched rock that looked like a cave, it could be a nice place to drink. He neared it, now that he was away from the crowd he could hear the peaceful chirp of the birds and the whisper of a small creek somewhere near him.

He smiled please for the calm of the place and the beautiful fireflies that fluttered around making the lake's still shallows shine with an eerie glow.

And the heard it, a sound that came from inside the rock, it was a sweet and serene melody that made Jim gap. What…Was it? It was a song Jim didn't know, I know it though because I have an exquisite taste in music. It was fireflies by Big the Younger. Of course I know the name of the song because despite Jim, I had an exquisite taste in music.

Jim approached the rock amazed and then he found him. Jack was leaning on a side of the rock singing aloud and gently pulling the strings of an old and ratty guitar.

"Are you kidding me?" Jim said with anger.

"James!" Said Jack quietly smiling at him when he saw him.

"Do you play the guitar too?"

"Too?" Jack said confused.

Jesus! Was there a thing this guy wasn't good at? I mean, what the fuck? Did he fly too?

Jim shook his head snorting. "Nothing, I'm just surprised"

"How did you find me?" Said Jack listlessly when Jim sat before him and both of them stared at the fireflies playing in the shore.

"Actually I wasn't looking for you" Jim admitted with a shy smirk.

"Oh…" Jack replied embarrassed.

"So…From where came the shitty guitar?"

"Don't call it that! It was my dad's favorite"

"Look at it Jacky, it's about to fall apart"

"Yeah, my dad was a rock star in his days" He chuckled.

"He taught you how to play?"

"Yeah, but I mostly play in the choir at church, I was planning on buying a new one but the paint ball guns dried me off"

Jim rolled his eyes. "You didn't have to"

"I wanted to, I wanted to…"

"Yeah, yeah, you wanted to prove that you're a bad boy, blah, blah, blah"

Jack snorted.

"I'm serious Jacky, you don't need to be someone else for people like you and if they don't well, fuck them! Is their loss"

Jack focused his eyes on the lake and smiled with the moonlight reflected in his shining blue eyes. He smiled. "You're right"

"Of course I am, I'm always right"

Jack chuckled. "You're such a good friend"

Jim rolled his eyes. "Stop saying that!" He laughed.

Jack craned his neck toward him. "Why? You're a good person" He said without getting Jim's point.

"No I'm not!" Replied Jim feeling his inside warming up, why he had to say that? He didn't know Jim at all, he was getting sick of all of it! Jack was so stupid and naïve that he didn't see it.

"Hey!" Jack said looking at Jim sternly. "You're a good person you hear me? I don't want to hear you say the opposite or…"

"Or what? Are you going to hit me?" Jim said laughing with fury. "You don't know shit about me Jacky, I've done horrible things" He blinked, one, twice… Shit! He pressed his eyes shut and kept them close until the knot in his stomach untied.

"They couldn't be that bad" Jack affirmed.

Jim snorted. "Once a guy I just met asked me if he could use my room to have sex with a girl he was hooking up with"

"What happened?"

"I sent them to an open house and they were showing it up and the moment, and they found them in the bed"

Jack whistled and almost laughed. "Well, that doesn't…"

"One time in high school, I stuffed a dork's bag with a handful of spiders because he didn't let me copy from him"

"That's just a kid's prank, not a big deal"

"He was afraid of spiders, or that what's he used to say"

"That's not…"

"One day in a trip to the zoo, I put drugs in the bird's cage. They became mad"

"James…"

"I spoke in cetacean to a girl just because she was fat"

"James"

"I sued a cop that…."

"I don't care James! That's not who you are now! Alright?" Jack grunted putting a hand on Jim's shoulder and squeezing tight. "That's not you anymore, I can see it in your eyes. You're a good person"

Jim snorted.

"I'm serious, look at me"

Jim blinked and looked up, meeting his eyes with the piercing and deep twin pools of Jack. He felt uneasy, he wanted to look away, but no one intimidated James Taylor.

"You're a good person" Jack said softly.

Jim held a sigh.

"Now say it yourself"

Jim swallowed, his mouth was dry. "I'm… I'm a good person"

"Not just say it, mean it, because it's true" Jack ordered.

"I'm a good person" Jim said a little more confident though he still felt stupid doing it. "I'm a good person" He repeated and now…He just slight thought that maybe… It was true.

….

We stayed there in silence for hours. I tried to bring up a subject anything to cheer Kyle but he didn't cooperate.

I checked my phone, it was ten and it was then when he finally spoke.

"I screwed everything, didn't I?" He said with bitter grin.

I shook my head. "No, Kristie stepped over the line" I assured.

"I don't know… I was really mad and the things I said…"

"It's okay Kyle, she will understand, she knows that she did bad the whole day"

He sighed. "I better get going, I just hope she lets me stay till morning, it's her grandparents' house after all"

I smirked and he stood. "You'll fix up things I promise"

"I'm sorry for the way I talked to you, and for Kristie dragging Allison in her games"

I snorted. "It's okay, Allison made her own choices, I'll talk to her later"

Yeah I was going to, but to congratulate her!

"Aren't you coming?" He asked when he noticed that I didn't stand up.

"No…I'll stay here a little longer"

"Are you sure? You're still wet and it's cold outside"

"I'll be fine Der…mom" I chuckled uneasy.

He smirked slightly and walked away at slow pace.

I saw him leave. I couldn't believe how good things were going. At that rate the project would be done in a couple of weeks which was good because Mr. Perry's finals were nearer than ever. Our next step was come out of the closet, but first I needed to finish screwing Kristie and Kyle's relationship. He was already feeling guilt and I couldn't let him do that! I needed to make things worse for them somehow. I had no ideas though, but it could wait until the next day, after a coffee mug.

I stood up, it was time for get into the cabin and have some sleep.

I walked in the darkness looking at the twisted beauty of the gnarled trees when I saw a weird rock before the lake and heard voices…Wait…Not just voices…It was Jack's and Jim's.

I felt thrilled! I hadn't see them in action ever, only through Jim's videos but now… I got my chance to record them from another point of view.

I neared the rock stealthy to make sure they didn't notice my presence. Slowly I came to one side of the rock and got a quick glimpse, they were sitting there chatting and from their point of view they wouldn't see me, it was perfect! Jim would freak out when he saw the video.

I tugged out my phone, tapped the camera icon and stared recording.

"I was just too mad at the moment" Jack was saying while I leaned to get a better view. "She said all those awful things about Kristie, and she is my cousin, I couldn't just let her rant about her that way!"

"So…" Said Jim confused. "Did you guys broke up?"

Jack nodded.

Oh my god! Oh my god! You did it Jimmy! You destroyed their relationship! It was Jim right?

"And it was wasn't just Kristie, she told me that she hated the guys of the team! You had to hear the things she said about them, and about you"

Oh! Yeah it was definitely because of Jim! This was so good!

"What…What did she say?" Jim asked.

Jack shook his head. "I doesn't matter, I actually don't want to think about it"

"You'll be fine, I bet you'll fix things up"

"I don't know" Jack said thoughtful. "I was scared with all that marriage stuff, her mom and mine won't stop talking about it and I mean…I'm just twenty two, I don't feel ready"

Jim laughed.

"Don't mock of me! Your love life sucks too" Jack chuckled.

"What?" Said Jim frowning.

"Wait, did you came here because of Ashley?"

"What happened with her?" Said Jim confused.

"Oh!" Jack blushed. "I thought you were upset, because early…She was fooling around with Paul's brother"

"I didn't…Know that"

Oh! That was good! Jim's girl was a cheating on him! Well, not exactly! Oh Jack was such a gossipmonger!

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew"

Jim sighed. "It's okay, we…kind of have an open relationship" He lied and I had to hold a laugh back.

"You deserve better" Jack affirmed.

"Oh come on! It isn't such a big deal"

"I mean it, I heard what she was saying at church. It wasn't cool!"

"Yeah, I know she can be…"

"It's not that! I know you don't believe in god but you acted respectfully because of my mom but she…"

Okay you asshole! Haven't you heard what they say of the guys who talk about girls at their backs?

"It's okay Jack, I don't… Want to talk about it"

"I'm sorry" Jack shrugged.

"Can I ask you something?" Jim said glancing down in embarrassment.

Jack nodded.

"Do you know the song Jack's winter by Sir Ferret?"

Jack gaped. I gaped.

"I…It's been a long time since I played it, but I think I recall the chords"

Jack took a guitar from his lap and slowly started playing the sorrowful and beautiful melody. "He's tired and lonely…"

"You don't remember the lyrics!" Jim said laughed.

"I'm sorry" Jack giggled. "I hadn't play it in a long time"

"It's okay, it doesn't matter"

"I'll learn it again to play it for you"

Jim blushed and looked away. "You don't have to"

"I do…Actually I'm surprised, I didn't know you liked that kind of music, I thought you were more of dance songs and those stuffs"

I didn't know either and I was supposed to be his best friend!

"Maybe I've always liked those kind of songs" Jim said in a low voice without looking at Jack.

"Then why…?"

"Maybe I just don't want people to know that about me"

"You should" Jack assured. "What's the matter if people knows that you're sensitive? Everyone is a little sensitive"

"Maybe I'm scared of people knowing" Jim said embarrassed. "Maybe I'm scared of trusting in someone and show them my true self, maybe I'm scared of getting hurt"

God! I could swear I heard his heartbeat from my place! He was such a good actor!

"James…" Said Jack with sadness in his voice. "It's okay….You can trust me…I would never hurt you"

Jack leaned and took Jim's hand in a comforting way and they stayed in silence for what looked like hours.

"Thanks" Jim whispered. Wow! When did he made out all that song thing? He was good! He was better than good! He deserved an academy award!

Well, that's what I thought in the moment, because then…I saw his face and damn! There was something in his eyes…I didn't like at all.


	11. Chapter 11

ANGELS ON THE ROOF

Now that Kyle and Kristie were having fights my luck had changed. Everything was going just perfect, and I couldn't help feeling that soon…

"What? A six?" Really? Mr. Anderson must have been doing crystal meth. I mean, what the fuck man? The lowest grade in my whole life was a nine point seven when I was at junior high and just because the math's teacher hated me.

It had to be a misunderstanding. Clearly Mr. Anderson must have mistaken my script with Brandon's or any of the coder's because…

I stood and walked straight to his desk when the class was over. "Um… Hugo I think you made a mistake with my script. You wrote ten wrong. It looks like a six"

"It's a six Stiles get over it" The man replied moody without even looking at me.

"It can't be a six! I'm the best of my class!" I grunted wanting to kick something so badly! Where was Brandon? Bah! He was too far, forget it.

Wait a minute… They were snickering, no, they were chocking in those awful mocking grins. Everyone! They were laughing at me, including Missy. Oh bitch I was going to remember that!

God! I was so mad! I bet even Derek was making fun of me with…. Where was Derek? That asshole! Giving pieces of mind for ditching and now he was doing the same.

"So…?" I started arching a brow. "I'm the dumb of the class now?"

Mr. Anderson rolled his eyes, took of his glasses and stared at me sternly. "Look Stiles…"

"I'm doing a screenwriting course" I added interrupting him.

"It's not working obviously" He pointed out.

"No shit" I grumbled "At least can you tell me what I am doing wrong?" I asked with my cheeks burning.

"It's… You write just for a class"

Duh! "This is a class"

"Yeah, but you used to write differently, your writing used to be for the audience, for people to enjoy your stories, now you look absent in class, you barely talk, your plots are predictable, your characters are one-dimensional and…"

"Studies proved that you confuse your audience if you put to many arcs and aspects of a character in a story. People don't like to process that much information, they rather watching something else. You could have a stunning backstory, but if you make the wrong choices you could mess everything up, you taught me that" I reminded him with gritted teeth.

"You're right, but you never liked rules. You never listened, and that's what used to make your movies so unique"

I gasped openmouthed. I couldn't believe him.

"Have you ever heard the quote 'Rules are meant to be broken'?" He asked.

I nodded rolling my eyes.

"Well, I always thought you were going to break all the rules in the industry"

Was I supposed to be flattered?

"You…Don't go for what people already likes, you always bet for making them like something new, you're not like the others, you got so much potential and we both know that someday everyone will be talking about you and your movies, but until then, it is a six"

Holy flying scripts! He believed in me! He knew I got talent! But he also said that my last script was bullshit. Oh no! Now I felt pretty bad for disappointing him, he expected great things from me, but now…

I craned my neck to see Brandon and the rest of the class rolling in the ground holding their stomachs, but, the place was empty.

"I'm really sorry for letting you down sir, I promise it won't happen again" I said struggling with the lump in my throat.

"Take it easy, it isn't a big thing, we all have our dark times" He said with a reassuring smile. "This is what we're going to do, I'm gonna give you four days to fix this story and maybe your grade could become a ten, what do you say?"

"Really?" I asked feeling relieved and happy and I wanted to kiss him! Not because he was hot as a sexy literary middle-aged man, but because I couldn't believe he was so nice! "You won't regret this, I promise!"

"Go then, remember you got only four days" He reminded me with a stark look. "And give this to Charles" Added handling me Derek's script.

I took it with hesitation and walked out of the classroom taking a look at it. Derek got a ten, of course he did, bullshit! I bet his script wasn't that good!

"Scales" I read the title as I walked through the campus, it sounded like epic story. Of course it was, he was such a nerd though, he still was, and even after all that gym and pussies he have had, he was still was that adorable geek that melts your heart.

"She sounds pretty funny" I heard his voice say while I took the doorknob and my guts squirmed. Who was he talking to?

I got in and Derek and Allison stopped laughing all sudden and acted like I wasn't there.

I…Wasn't expecting this.

I kept walking to my bed without daring to look at him. They were back together…God! How? Why? I thought he said two days ago that he didn't love her anymore or something like it. I couldn't remember his exact words but he let clear that they were done and now they were holding hands in his bed as if nothing had happen.

I sat on my quilt and sighed while they resumed their talk about Kristie. So…He wanted to meet her, now he wanted to talk about the people involved in my project. Idiot!

I sighed and grabbed my script to take a look at it. I still couldn't believe I got a six, and then glared at Derek's. Mr. Anderson told me to give it to him but I wasn't going to talk to that ass! I would rather to leave it in his bed when he went out and… Or I could…Deliver it later, I was kind of curious, what he could have possibly have written to earn a ten when I got a six? Well, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him for sure.

I was tempted to read some lines right away but he could see me and the least I need was to have another arguing with him. I also had to rewrite my crappy script but I wasn't in the mood for writing.

I moved my head slightly to the side to get a glimpse of them with the corner my eye. They were talking like nothing has happened. My guilt faded a little because it was my fault they broke up in the first place, but now was being replaced by a bit of jealousy. They looked so happy and I couldn't help feeling how a gooey monster growled inside my guts, burning me, climbing to the back of my throat, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I wasn't sure if I was jealous of Allison for being back with Derek while he didn't even want to look me or if I was jealous of him for being with my new best friend. It was too much complicated, I needed to breathe and detach my eyes from them! Make them split if it was possible.

"Um…Allison?" I said pretending to check my phone to not look at them. "The betches and I are going to Jim's loft today to see the latest videos and talk about them" It was truth though, I still got to talk to Jim about what I've seen in the lake.

"Oh!" She said taken by surprise. "I… I'm sorry Stiles, Derek and I were planning to go out but I think…."

"No it's okay, I get it" I replied with a fake grin.

"No, it's fine, go with him, if you guys have things to do I get it" Derek suddenly said with a calm and soft voice that made me shiver. He really meant those words, what the hell was going on with him? One day he calls and yells at me, at the other he is back with Allison and now he is cool with the project?

You know what they say about the women being menstrual and bipolar? Well, it is all lie! You wanna be emotionally frustrated? Try to understand men!

"No it's fine Allison, you go with him. I bet you will have more fun!" I said in a polite but a bit harshly way.

"Its fine, I really don't mind, I get you're busy" Derek replied a little dull.

"You're not busy anymore Allison so go out with him!"

"You know what? I'm going to my dorm to study" She yelled losing her patience. She stood and walked to the door. "You guys seriously need therapy; you're acting like dumb kids!" She slammed the door at her back.

I rolled my eyes, prepared my camera and got out of there to take some pictures of the landscapes to ease my mind a bit. She was right, Derek was acting like a dumb kid! Why he didn't just come and apologized? He was so immature!

….

Ash came early to say hi to Jim before the betches got there. He was a little busy working on some things he got to deliver the next day on class so he got really pissed when the bell rang.

"Hi honey" She said all smooth-tongued. "What's up?" She said coming in.

"Hey betch" He said happily.

"Oh my god, you're studying!" She said openmouthed.

"Cut the crap, I'm really busy" He rolled his eyes.

"Oh! You hurt my feelings!" She moaned with the back of her wrist on her forehead in a very dramatic way.

"Not as much as you hurt mine in the lake" Jim pointed out grudgingly. "Jack saw you flirting with Paul's brother"

She laughed.

"It's not fun betch; you could have ruined my plan just for a quickie"

"That wasn't just a quickie, I think he likes me" She blushed. "Actually, he asked me out"

"Oh yeah?" Jim whistled impressed. "Great, go out with him; just make sure no one knows for now, alright?"

"Fine" She replied bored. "I brought you a present by the way"

Jim's face brightened, a present? What it could be?

Ash zipped down her coat and pulled out a magazine from inside.

"A magazine?" Jim said confused taking it in his hands and then he saw the picture in the cover. It was an economy's magazine and his dad was in the front cover, seating in a luxurious chair in a dictatorial way with a self-indulgent smirk on his lips.

"Wow! It is everything I always wanted in my life! How did you know?" He said with sarcasm.

Ash chuckled. "I'm not talking about your dad, asshole, it's the interview. You're on it"

What?

Jim hurried to open it to quickly flip the pages and find the interview they made to his father and… Well, what Ash said was half-truth. Jim was in the interview. At first he expected to see if they asked about his homosexual son and the disgrace he used to bring to the renowned Taylor family by taking part in extravagant parties and driving high. Instead he just found a quick reference to him; apparently his dad knew he was in college because he told the interviewer how proud he was of his son for being the first of his class.

So…His mom didn't miss the chance to spread the news all around the Taylor kin. She probably did it to shut everyone's mouth in the family. Oh Jim loved that woman!

"It looks like the company is yours" Ash said with greedy eyes.

"Stop doing crack, it kills your nerve cells" He chuckled.

"He said it, he can't wait for you to graduate and join the family business"

"I'm not going anywhere betch, I'm fine here" He affirmed without even considering the idea of becoming one of his dad's puppets. "What are you doing reading this anyway?"

"It was for a class, all my teachers are secretly in love with your dad" She sniggered.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere" He affirmed and threw the magazine to the hearth lighting in it with a flick of his wrist.

"Wow! How did you do that?" She said openmouthed.

"It's not a big deal, just something I'm working for my finals"

"What? Are you planning to burn the whole school? Please say yes" She laughed.

"No, it's just a prototype I'm working for smarthomes, you control everything inside with gestures"

"That sounds like a really good idea" She said amazed stopping in front of the fire to try it. "It doesn't work"

"The cameras only respond to me" He chuckled.

"That's even more awesome"

"Yeah, it came to me one day while Jack and I were studying"

"You seem to spend a lot of time together" She arched a suggestive brow.

"That's the idea betch, its part of the plan"

"Whatever" She said sitting on the couch to turn on the television. Just don't fall for him, he is a loser"

"I couldn't fall for Jacky" Jim chuckled. "It would be the lamest thing in the world"

He sat next to her and watched some shows while they waited for us.

….

The betches made it to Jim's loft before I did. I stayed at a little longer in my dorm after Derek left to God knows where, and started to read his script. I couldn't get it. It was a weird story, I mean, it was about dragons after all but the main character was hard to understand, he was supposed to be a hero, but he wasn't, according to the story at the point where I leaved it, the prophecy was about someone else, a person he was searching, so… What was the point to write about someone who actually isn't the one who is going to do all the ass kicking? I felt a little intrigued and I wanted to keep reading, but it was late already and I had to go, so I grabbed my stuffs and head out.

Two streets and six floors later I knocked Jim's door. When I got inside everyone was there having some drinks and sharing stories.

"'S up betches?" I said when I got in there.

"Hi betch" The others replied.

I got a beer and sat between Liam and Freddy.

"You look happy sweetie" Liam pointed out taking a look at me.

"Of course I'm happy, everything is going just perfect" I replied cheerful. "Well, almost perfect" Added getting a glimpse of Jim who was laughing at one of Ash's jokes.

"Don't tell me you hooked up with Kyle" Tim said Excited.

I shook my head. "Better" I replied with a grin.

"Oh my god! You had sex with him!" Liam said shocked.

"Bring the tequila shots, Stily is not virgin anymore!" Hip laughed and I glared at him.

"I'm still virgin, thank you" I replied bitterly. "It's not that, I'm just happy because this is it guys, we're just a couple of weeks away from finishing the project, next week I'm going to come out of the closet with Kyle"

Everyone applauded and I blushed.

"What do you think will happen?" Cass asked leaning to look at me expectantly. "Do you think he will say he loves you?"

"What? No!" I chuckled. "I guess he will not talk to me for a couple of days and probably will prepare a prank for me. I think it would be the perfect end for the movie, the moment Kyle breaks my heart and shows his true colors" I finished with a triumphant smile on my face.

No one smiled back…Actually they were…Frowning?

"What's going on?" I said arching a brow.

"Are you sure he's going to do that?" Asked Liam not convinced.

"Of course! He's a horrible human being after" I reminded him. "Oh come on guys! Don't tell me you truly believe he is a good person, remember all the crap he said about me'"

"I don't know Stily" Freddy said thoughtfully. "I think he might… Love you"

"What? Are you drunk already Beyoncé?" Jim mocked. "Kyle is pretty straight, he got a girlfriend"

"So what? Maybe he is in the closet"

"You're crazy" I laughed.

"I think he is right sweetie, look at the videos… The way he looks at you… It's pretty endearing"

"Oh come on! You're all mad! Kyle doesn't have feelings for me" Right? "You'll see when I tell him that I'm gay"

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"What about Jackson?" Tim wrinkled his forehead. "He likes Jimmy for sure"

"Don't call me Jimmy Timmy" Jim said glaring at him. "And no, he is not gay"

"Oh come on!" The betches said all at once.

"He is not gay!" Jim assured. "He is just too nice, that's all"

"He is gay Jimmy" Cass assured. "Are you two blind or what? Those guys are literally drooling for you"

"Yeah, like the twins for Tim and you?" I shot back.

"What? No! The twins aren't gay at all" He affirmed.

"They swallowed their pride for you" I pointed out.

"Yeah, but just because they realized that we're the best friends they I'll ever have" Tim said standing up to take a new beer from the table. "They are not that bad when you get to know them"

"Seriously?" I grunted. "Give them some time, you'll see how they start mocking of you on public and threating you like shit"

"No Stily, I really think…." Cass was saying but I raised my hand to shut him, I had no time. I needed to get back to my dorm and start working on my script.

"No one likes anyone and the twins are assholes alright?" I squinted. "Did you bring your cameras? I wanna see the new videos"

Hip stood and shoved his hands on his pockets. I took Jim's laptop and plugged the memory. The video started just fine, Hip in a club talking to a guy and of course it all ended in protected sex, yeah, I know what you have been thinking all this time, Hip was insane for having so much sex and gays are so promiscuous -not like poor straights- and blah blah blah but the truth is that Hip wasn't stupid and he liked sex too much to ruin everything just for a night of fun.

And that was it! Just a guy!

"Just a guy!?" I said disappointed. "Come on betch! You can do better! Time's up, we need to reach the goal of fifty guys"

"I gave you twenty guys just two days ago! You can't expect me to have sex with another ten in just a weekend!" He replied angrily. "And I've been busy with some stuff too"

"Stuff?" I arched a brow.

"I have a life too, okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Jim? What about you?"

"Um… I'm sorry betch but… I…Kinda lost my camera when Kristie stole my clothes" He said hurrying to sip from his beer to hide his embarrassment.

What? Jim lost his footage! Oh no! I lost mine too when they threw me in the lake! It was so unfair! The woods were such a good location and so many things happened; now all I had was the video I took with my phone. I was going to kill Kristie.

"What about you?" I muttered with disappointment looking at Tim and Cass.

They stood and both gave me their memories and it was a waste of time, it was just hours and hours of boring talks about gym and the twins' classes, the most relevant thing was when dumb ass or moron, I don't know who asked Tim if he always knew he was gay, after that…Nothing, just nothing. It could put anyone to sleep. Oh Christ!

"We need action guys" I said rubbing my eyes frustrated. "Do something! Play with their minds…I don't…I KNOW! Say very good about one to the other, go out with one and don't tell the other, talk their girls about doing something nice for their brother in law, we need some drama here!"

"Alright, alright, we'll see what we can do" Said Cass a little bored. "We have to go, we agreed to play basketball with them in the park" And said so, Tim and him stood and left.

It was all a mess! Things were chilling and I couldn't afford that, Allison even told me that Kyle and Kristie kind of sorted things out in the way back home from the woods so I needed to do something quick before it was too late and they came back to be the perfect couple, and plus… Now that the rest of the betches left except for Freddy and Liam I got my chance. When Jim was in the bathroom and I addressed him as soon as he came out.

"We need to talk" I said sternly.

"What? You want me to claim your cheery" He arched a brow mockingly. "I knew this day would come, but I'm sorry Stily I…"

"You like Jack"

He snorted. "What? Are you mixing pills? You look pretty pale by the way"

He was right, I felt like shit because of the lake and my wet clothes, but a couple of pills made me feel better that morning and…. Wait a minute we were talking about him not me!

"I'm serious betch. I saw the way you looked at him when he was singing that song"

"What song? I… You were spying on us!"

"Of course I was! It is all the footage we got from that day, thanks to Kristie" I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, I saw the way you looked at him, you're falling for him!"

"Oh come on! Didn't you just say an hour ago that no one liked anyone?" He laughed. "I don't like Jacky, betch, you told me to play with him and that's what I'm doing, it has to look real or else it won't work"

"I know but…"

"Look, I know you're under a lot of pressure with Derek not talking to you and…"

"I'm the one who's not talking to him"

"Whatever" He sighed. "I get that you might feel a little confused with Kyle and everything else but stop the witch hunt, I don't like Jacky. He is like a little boy. I feel pity for him"

"I'm not confused about Kyle'' I said with my jaw set. "I don't have feelings for him"

"But you think he might have feelings for you" He accused.

I shook my head frantically "The only ones with feelings for each other are Jack and you"

"Are you seriously saying that?" He exhaled losing his patience. "I'm telling you, there is nothing going on between Jack and I"

"Prove it then" I dared him.

He arched a brow, he loved challenges. "What you got in mind?"

"Um… I don't know, I think you spend too much time together, maybe you should split for a while"

"I can't do that!" He hurried to say.

"See? I was right!" I accused.

"It's not that you frigid ass, we got training remember? Sunset Valley is a couple of weeks away, I can't miss training. The coach will kill me"

"So what? Say that you're sick or something"

He took a moment a think. "Alright, if it's calms your paranoid butt I'll stay out of Jacky's radar for a couple of days"

"Days no, a whole week" I protested.

"I can't, his birthday is on Saturday"

"Jack's birthday?"

He nodded. "I think I can get him a…"

"No!" I cut him off. "You can't get him anything, actually don't see him that day, nor text him, and act like if you didn't know anything about his birthday"

"Are you crazy betch? The better way to mess with him is to give him something amazing, that way he would freak out and…"

"No Jim, you're not getting it, he got really high hopes and expectations on you already, he waits you'll do something nice for him, but if you forget about his birthday and then come back as if nothing happened… He will really freak out! You'll see, it will be perfect! He will be all confused and…"

"I don't think it…."

Stubborn betch. "Well, I guess you can't stand the idea of staying away from him too long" I chuckled devilishly and strode off before he said everything else.

I got some things to plan and a script to write. Damn! It was going to be a pretty busy week.

When I got home that night and saw my script lying on my bed I felt overwhelmed, then I saw all my dirty clothes and thought that maybe was time to do some laundry, yeah, I know what you're thinking and no, I wasn't procrastinating, it's just that I couldn't work if I knew that there were other things to do, boring things to do by the way.

When I was checking the pockets of my pants to make sure I didn't wash my cards for mistake I found the brochure Kristie gave before the soccer game. They were inviting everyone on campus to join the team in the inter-college championship in Sunset Valley, it… Was a really good idea!

Oh my god! I got it! I found the way to give the coup of grace to Kyle and Kristie's relationship and at the same time make Jack miss Jim because he wasn't going to take part on it.

I was going to plan Jack's birthday party.

And that's it! That was a rough week! The next morning I called Allison and told her about my idea, which was… The bitchiest thing I had done in a while. First off, since Kyle had last Saturday free, it meant he would have double shift the day of the party, which was just perfect because that was exactly what I wanted, it looked like the universe was plotting to help me with my plan.

Allison made Kristie told her about Jack's birthday that week and made it look it like it was actually Kristie telling her about it, she was pretty good! Anyway, as I expected when Allison proposed the idea of the birthday party Kristie said no at first because she thought Jack wouldn't like that, and since Kyle wouldn't be able to go, it would be sad. Allison had to remind her that the party wasn't for Kyle and her and also told her that in the forest Jack looked pretty desperate for attention – Yeah, she was starting to talk like me- and it would be nice to give him that as a present.

So Kristie agreed to throw a surprise birthday party for Jack on her home since her dad was still out of the town, but it would be an intimate thing because she didn't want more problems with Kyle, and you guess right… Here is where I get into the game.

Cass was an awesome Dj so I wanted him to do some mixes and as you probably recall Tim was amazing graphic designer so… We printed zillions of brochures inviting everyone to the party of the year, better than lollapalooza and Coachella together, featuring the coolest Dj of the state, actually those were five different brochures because everyone had different tastes, and then we took them all and started to dispense them around the city.

On mornings I gave brochures outside the campus and made sure to spread the word with everyone, except for the electronics and acting students, probably Kristie would tell Kyle about the party but since she thought it would be an innocent private reunion. I couldn't risk for him to realize the truth before it was time.

On afternoons I read Derek's script on secret and got more and more confused. When I finally got to the end, everything finally made sense and understood why Mr. Anderson gave him a ten. It was a good story, told from the point of view of a sidekick. He met this princess who tried to escape from her coronation as queen of a land sunk in decay and chaos in a farmers market, but they got attacked by monster and helped each other run away. While she tried to find a way to hide and have a normal life he kept pushing her to come back to take her place in the throne. Later they realized she had been marked by eras as a dragon whisperer, a human with the ability to understand the dragons' feelings and let them know her own. In Derek's world dragons were feared and impossible to tame, so in their journey she learned how to control her powers and thanks to the main Character she accepted her fate and saved the realm from the threat of an evil conqueror who was planning to claim the throne for himself.

So that was it, it wasn't a pretty complicated story and also it wasn't much original, but… As I said, the way it was written was pretty interesting, George R. R. Martin would be proud of Derek because of his linguist and I felt proud of him because I liked how things got messed and fixed. His main Character Tatch wasn't a hero an neither pretended to be, but he had good values and knew how to difference good from evil, and even though he was a peasant fought bravely as a knight to protect the princess and help her find her path, I think the lesson was that sidekicks were underrated, they deserved to be treated better by writers because they worth so much more that some witty lines and a sassy tongue.

And speaking of scripts and stories, after reading that I finally sat –the night before delivering mine- and started thinking about my script, let's face it, Mr. Anderson was right, it sucked so badly you could smell it from a mile away. I didn't want to try to fix it, especially because Mr. Anderson knew how it ended already, I wanted to surprise him and... At the same time teach him a lesson, I wasn't a six. I wanted to write about him, well, not exactly about him because it would be too obvious, so, instead of teacher, I would write about a screenwriter that… Was a psychotic motherfucker and… Enjoyed the idea of torturing his students! No, actors! That was perfect and at the end he would learn that he was wrong from the beginning and… No, it would be too predictable. He would be right but… Not at the same time! The end would be for interpretation, that way I would say him to not fuck with me and he wouldn't be able to say that I was directly attacking him because he couldn't prove it, because it would depend on the light you saw it and… There would be a major plot twist and…Holy flying scripts! I got an awesome idea for the plot twist, and was planning to set it right before the end just to make things even more twisted! It was going to be awesome! I needed to write it! No! I had to write it! So I took my laptop on my lap and started writing all night while Derek snored just a couple of feet in front of me and I wanted to throw my pillow at him to shut him up.

….

Things got a little complicated for Jim the following days. He got really mad at me because of what I said about him spending too much time with Jack so he wanted to prove me that he didn't have feelings for the male version of the mother Teresa and decided to listen to me and fade away from his life that week.

At first it was easy, he just came to his classes and everything normal, but anxiety took over him during the hours on which he was supposed to be in training with the rest of the team. He knew the coach was going to kill him and he felt tempted to text the man and tell him he was pretty sick. He also got to sneak in the campus to attend his exams without being noticed by no one in the team, and it was even more complicated than he expected because Jack was in his same faculty, so most of the time he got to go undercover and hide in corners to make sure the way was clear.

Jack's texts came after the second day, at first it was just messages to check that Jim was right, later they changed for concerned ones and then freaked out speeches asking Jim if he was mad at him.

I would have loved to be there with him while he read those texts to laugh my ass out with him but I was too busy with my own things.

Jim spent most of the time in his loft to make sure he didn't run accidentally with any of the guys in the team those days and finally on Thursday's night it happened.

He was sitting on the couch reading some of his notes for his next exam when the bell rang. He jerked his head to the side suspiciously, he wasn't expecting anyone. Maybe it was just Martha that…

"James" Said his voice at the other side of the door.

Jim's heart slammed his ribcage.

"I know you're in there" He continued firmly. "Your car is downstairs…I just came here to…"

Jim ran to the kitchen and hid under the counter which was stupid because Jack couldn't see him but maybe he could try to open the door. Jim forgot to close it after all.

"Are you alright? Is there something happening to you? Talk to me say something! If you are in trouble just tell me! I'm your friend, the coach is really angry and the guys won't stop asking about you"

_Really?_ Jim thought openmouthed.

"Why don't you say anything? Are you mad at me? It is about Ashley?"

Jim gritted his teeth and tried to focus on his lecture, he needed to study.

"I guess you don't want to talk with anyone, I'll leave you them" Jack said with disappointment and then nothing. Silence.

Jim gasped and balled his hands, he…Might have felt a bit guilty about what he was doing, but he also knew I was right, if we wanted the plan to work we needed to stay away from them once in a while.

"Look… I'm so sorry if I ever hurt your feelings or say anything that upset you, I promise you I didn't do it on purpose and now…" His voice was hoarse.

Damn! Why he had to be so childish? Jim felt tempted to get out and tell him to grow up!

"I'm just thought we were best friends, I'm really sorry for whatever I've done, I guess I'm just gonna leave you alone, it was nice to meet you James Taylor"

Jim stood and ran at the door to peek through the door's peephole to see Jack disappear inside the elevator.

He turned and lied his back against the door as he slowly came down to the floor rolling his eyes, Jack was so stupid! Now Jim was really mad at him! Why? Why he had to be so paranoid? Why he couldn't just think that maybe Jim was sick or out of town? Why he had to assume that Jim hated him?

Jim sighed and came back to study, Monday seemed so distant now, but it would worth when he came back as if nothing happened that day to see Jack's face when he realized that Jim forgot his birthday.

….

Apart from my script and Jack's surprise birthday party I had some other things bothering me those days. I just… It was so hard to see Derek and Allison together and happy, I know it was bad but I was so jealous, why did he apologize to her and not me? It was simple he loved her, and I was just the stubborn pain in the ass he got since he was born. And finally he got rid of me. For some reason now they didn't want to go out, they always stayed in our room watching movies all day in bed, all the movies I loved by the way, it was torturing me, killing me. The way they looked at each other, the way they smiled and the jokes their said, it was like I was invisible and I couldn't help wondering if Derek ever thought about me, if he ever recalled that just a couple of feet away was the person he used to care about, the boy he taught how tie his laces, the boy who sneaked in his bed on nights afraid of his parent's arguing, the boy he held in a pool of blood and promised he wouldn't let go ever.

I was gone. He was happy now. He didn't need me anymore and I had to accept that.

All those painful feelings helped in my writing, since my emotions were like a rollercoaster because of the project and how much I hated the Hhbs, my longing for Derek and the anger I felt inside my script was ready in record time.

At four am I printed it and at seven I was walking Mr. Anderson's class to deliver it before any of his students from that day got there.

I found him sitting in his chair having a coffee while he read the news. He arched a brow impressed when he saw me and then took my script in his head and read the title.

"Damiantia" He read slowly while the corners of his lips turned up slightly. "A new story uh? This long? In just four days?"

"Four hours" I corrected him proudly.

He glowered and flipped the page.

I sat before him with my arms crossed and watched him read. I didn't need him to tell me that it was good, I knew it was good, it wasn't just a script, it was my scape from all the madness that had been sinking me the last months, it was my way to express all my frustration and pain.

An hour and a half later he closed the last page, and looked at me straight in the eye

"So?" I arched a brow thought I knew which was going to be his reaction.

"It's good" He admitted calmly as he took his sharpie and wrote a miniscule ten in the top.

"Are you kidding me? I can't read that" I chuckled.

"So what? It's a ten" He laughed and then his face straightened suddenly. "Well done Stiles, I must admit that I'm more than impressed, your characters… I'm curious of what happened before. Why you wrote such poor story when you're capable of things like this?"

I didn't know what to reply, I had no excuse. I had been sloppy.

"Save it for your graduation, I want to see it on theaters all around the world and say, hey! I taught him everything he knows"

"Wow! How humble of you!" I laughed.

He chuckled. "Good work, I'm really proud"

"Thanks" I said blushing a little.

I took my script and walked at the door at the moment I saw his students getting into the classroom. "Hugo?" I said without turning to face him.

"Yeah?" I said at my back.

"I'm gonna break all the rules, you can count of that" I said in a pretty bad-ass way and got out of there.

Hugo learned his lesson and I did too, I couldn't expect people to feel satisfied with anything I did. I always had to put my heart and soul in my movies or else the audience would grow bored of me. It was thrilling and scary at the same time. How I was going to beat myself every six months? Well, I guessed I would have to be even better every day. But I could think about it another day. I was free to work on Jack's surprise birthday party and hell that there were going to be surprise for everyone in there.

Kristie's house was huge! Damn! Who was her dad? The president? I couldn't believe how much space was there! It was perfect because I didn't know how many people was going to be there. At first it was just Jack, Kristie, Allison, and me.

Kristie gave me a big hug as soon as she saw me and I felt a pang of guilt in my chest when the bell rang and I saw Cass outside with all his equipment with him.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but when Allison told me about the party I thought about bringing a friend, he's a good Dj" I said pretending to be embarrassed.

"Really? That's awesome!" She replied happily inviting him in.

Cass got in and I introduced him to the rest, a couple of minutes later the bell rang again and Paul got inside followed by Kev and the rest of the soccer team.

Things heated up a little as soon as Cass put on some great dance Music and Kristie opened a bottle and brought Jack to the dance floor. I couldn't help feeling that he looked a little absent. Oh come on you killjoys! It was your birthday! Don't tell me Christians doesn't have birthday parties.

I sat with Allison in the very expensive couch and watched them dance while she smirked at me. "Please tell me you at least bought something for Jack" She said in a stubborn mom way.

"Relax, I did" I replied rolling my eyes and taking out a watch from my pocket.

"What are you waiting? Go there!" She urged me.

I stood and passed by Cass who winked at me and tapped Jack in the shoulder.

"Happy Birthday Jackson" I said with some embarrassment because oh god! I still couldn't process how handsome he was.

I drew the watch and put on his head.

"Oh!" He said shocked. "You didn't have to Stiles, I barely know you after all"

_Yeah but I know more about you than you think_ "I doesn't matter, is the least I could do for you for letting me stay in the cabin the other night"

"You're a really nice person" He pointed out with a smile and then he threw his arms to my neck.

Oh great he hugged me! Oh he was so warm and strong!

The bell rang again. Kristie went to the door and here is everything became weird for them.

"Hello?" She said confused.

"Is the party in here?" A couple of guys said carrying some bottles with them.

"This is a…" Kristie was saying when I heard Paul's voice.

"Hey! Mark over here!"

Kristie jerked her head toward Paul confused and then looked at this Mark guy at the door. "Well, if you know him I guess…"

They came in! Oh! Thanks Paul, for a moment I thought she would kick them out, it was a good thing that they knew each other.

Paul introduced Mark and his friends to everything and we could barely hear anything with so amount of noise. We weren't just a few anymore and with the music and the talks… Now it was starting to look like a party and actually…The bell rang, again and that's how things came out of control for Kristie now it was time to work on Kyle.

….

While I was secretly hosting the party of the year Jim was at home dying of boredom. Today was Jack's birthday, so he probably was at home with his family of a church thanking God for another year of life, because he definitely wasn't there begging Jim to talk to him.

He had studied for all his classes on next week. He had played video games even though they weren't their thing. He thought about calling Aidan to have some drinks but then he recalled it would be better to not talk to everyone in the team until Monday.

Magazines, some cartoons, movies, porn. God he was bored as hell! He needed to something, he needed to get out of that place, do anything! He just…Needed something to keep him busy, he knew he couldn't see Jack because of what I told him, and he had to listen to me, he needed to prove me that he didn't have any feelings for Jack and that I was only overeating as usual.

It was sad he wasn't going to see Jack thought, with the great present he got him, but since I told him to act like he didn't know about Jack's birthday, he guessed Jack wouldn't get it ever, unless… Unless he gave it to him days later pretending to be sorry for forgetting his birthday. It could work.

Maybe he was becoming insane, but suddenly his loft looked like it was shrinking. The walls seemed like nearer to him with every breath. Damn! He was becoming claustrophobic with all the time he spent locked it there. Of course he was! He wasn't used to stay at home! He liked to go out, to see the world, to talk to people, to hang out, to get drunk and live. And he wasn't living at all trapped in there. He needed to get out of that place.

He took a quick shower, got dressed and took the elevator to climb his car, it was time to reconnect with the all ways. He didn't recall when he played poker with Carlos and the guys was for the last time. They used to play on Thursday, but maybe they were there, they loved money after all.

He drove for forty minutes and when he made it to the building quickly climbed down of the car and went upstairs. As he expected Carlos and the other guys where there playing.

_Great_ He thought shoving his hands on his pockets to draw his money, he was going to have a good night.

….

"This is out of control!" Allison yelled at my ear over the roar of the music.

"What?" I said laughing.

"I SAID THIS IS OUT OF CONTROL!"

"Yeah I know, this is the best party of all!" I replied taking a sip of the cocktail I made for myself in the kitchen.

"I'll checkup Kristie!" I said with concern on her voice while she pushed people aside.

She was right though, there was too much people inside. I was being pushing from right to left frantically in the middle of a sea of sweated bodies while the people roared excited by Cass' amazing mixes. He was good, no, he was a rockstar and now everyone was noticing him. I bet many got upset at first when they realized that he wasn't their favorite DJ after all but now that they were listening to him they loved him. I could see a bright future in front of him.

Below the flickering lights I made my way out of the crowd to get to the backyard. It was a large space and even thought it was almost as packed as inside the living room at least I could hear my thoughts now. I tugged out of my phone and saw Allison and Kristie passing by me, the second looked a little upset.

"Where the hell came out all this people?" She said angrily.

"I don't know" I replied looking as shocked at her.

"Damn I'm gonna kill the guys in the team, I bet this was their idea, they're taking revenge because of the clothes' prank"

"Take it easy Kristie! Everyone is having a great night" I assured her, and I wasn't laughing. We were going to pass to history like the best party hosts of all. That's right project X we got our own underage kids drowning in the pool and drunk girls showing their boobs. It was a really madness.

Kristie frowned. "I think you're right, I just wished Kyle was here, we're not doing very well lately"

I sighed. "I'm sorry, but I'm sure everything will be okay between you two"

"You think?"

"I'm sure of it" I affirmed with a grin. "Come let's take a picture" I proposed, yeah I know, I hate selfies because I don't like to see myself in pictures or mirrors or whatever, but I had to shut up and do it.

Kristie, Allison and I stood before my phone and smiled for the camera.

"Come on let's dance!" Allison said when we were done.

I saw them go inside and got a glimpse of Jack trying to get rid of two girls that keep pushing him inside to dance with him. I smirked, thank God I got a new camera.

When the girls were gone I uploaded the picture I took and of course tagged Allison and Kristie, I couldn't wait for Kyle to see the picture.

I went to the farthest corner of the backyard and dialed Liam's number.

"Hi Sweetie" He said when he picked the call.

"How's everything going?" I asked putting a finger in my right ear to get rid of the noise of the party.

"Everything is great, he has delivered five already" He explained.

"Great, I'll wait a little longer until you send him here, alright?"

"Roger that sir" Liam replied happily cutting the call.

I told Liam and Freddy to keep Kyle busy doing some delivers just to make sure he didn't come to check out Kristie and the party. They called a couple of friends and got him from corner to corner of the town taking pizzas, and when I felt that things were really out of control I was going to tell them to ask for the party's address and boom. It was going to be the end of Kryle. I didn't want to drink much because tomorrow I would probably be busy supporting Kyle after his hard broke up but I felt like partying. I wanted to get wasted and do something stupid! I was happy after all.

I took a long sip of my drink and turned to get back inside when I bumped with someone.

"I'm sorry I…" I was saying when I saw his face.

It was Dumbass or Moron.

"Stily!" He said shocked. "What are you doing here?" He asked frowning.

I arched a brow. Hell! He was really stupid.

"Oh I'm sorry, you're partying of course" He chuckled.

What..? I'm sorry? Was he high? Never mind, I didn't want to know. So I spun and started to stride off when I felt a pull on my arm.

_Here we go._ "What do you want?!" I roared. "Why do you hate so much? What the hell did I did to you?"

He gaped and then glanced down embarrassed.

"I…" He started with shaky voice. "Look, I'm really sorry by the way we treated you the last months and…"

What the fuck?

"What is this? A new prank video? Where are the cameras?" I grunted with my jaw set.

He gasped. "I mean it Stily, look, things have changed since the last time we talked, I was wrong and I know Swindel can be an ass sometimes but he isn't as bad as you think"

"Swindel?" I frowned.

"My brother"

"His name is Swindel?" I said cracking in laughs. "I always thought it was Bo or something like it"

He glared at me and then sighed. "Look, what happened between us in the past, can we just forget about it? I see things differently now, I think I was kind of scared of you"

"Right because of my big muscles and my lack of gray matter" I spat despitefully.

"Damn it!" He growled. "Why you have to say those things? Don't you see that I'm trying to do the right thing?"

"The right thing?" I burst in angrily laughs. "You ruined my life! That video! Ruined everything! You think is funny? The way you guys treated me? How you mocked of me as if I hadn't have feelings! Millions could have seen that fucking video! And you didn't care! Actually you wanted them to see it, to make me feel miserable! I my friend Derek reported it and reported it and reported it and it didn't matter you keep uploading it again and again, you wouldn't stop" Damn my voice was cracking. "I wanted to die, I even wished I had when I tried it"

He looked at me with his jaw dropped.

"I…I didn't…"

"Of course you didn't know! You don't care anyone more than yourselves and your selfish asses and how many girls you can sleep with in one night so you can later go to the bathroom in the night and be able to see yourself in the mirror and say 'See? You're not a fag after all'"

I turned shaking as if I was naked inside a pool on winter and strode off.

"Stily" He cried at my back but I kept walking while people stepped back to let me walk and looked at me shocked.

I wasn't going to cry, he could swallow his apologizes. What if I had killed myself? They didn't care! This was probably fake anyway, they were planning something for sure. But they were going to freak out when I send them a link to watch my movie. They were going to pay for everything they did.

I got into the party and got wrapped in the amazing sound of Cass' mixes. The bass humming in my chest, making me feel special and powerful, walking inside that living room after saying those words made me feel like the male lead of the most badass movie of all. I know I rather being behind the camera giving orders but tonight…Was my night and I was going to make it my bitch.

I found Kristie and Allison dancing with a couple of hot guys in a very foxy way and tugged out my phone to take a picture.

_Say cheese_ I thought devilishly. They would see, all those Hhbs were going to pay.

….

"Full house!" Carlos said cracking in laughs.

"Again?" Said Jim furious. "You're cheating!" He accused standing up.

"What's up pendejito? Don't tell me you're a bad loser" Carlos said with a mocking grin.

"Bad loser? Three consecutive rounds? You're cheating bitch and you know it"

"Now you know what it feels" Carlos cousin added chuckling.

"Fuck this! I'm out of here" Said Jim furious turning off his cigarette and walking to the door.

He climbed down the stairs furiously and when we got to the ground floor recalled that he could have taken the elevator. Damn! How stupid he could be sometimes!

Got into his car and sighed. It was his fault, he wasn't alert in the game. He lost because of himself, what else could he do? Damn he forgot how to have fun, it was Jack's fault, spending too much time with him playing to be the good boy and whatever. He was so mad! He couldn't believe I really suggested that he had feelings for Jack. It was clear he was just messing with the guy, that's all.

He needed to have sex. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even recall when was the last time he had sex, damn at that rate he would become virgin again.

_I'm becoming Stily!_ He thought scared. Ha! Very funny.

He drove to the club, that's was it! He felt so stressed because it had been a while since the last time he had action, and it was all what he needed.

He got inside, the lights welcomed him as the roar of the music and the people dancing in the dark, he saw a pair of lesbians eating each other's mouth next the door and smirked. That's exactly what he came looking for. He walked in, asked a drink to Dray and sat in the counter to drink it quietly while he saw everyone dance, and then it's when Dray tapped him in the shoulder.

He craned his neck. "What?"

"Here" Dray replied handling him another drink.

"I didn't ask another, this one is half-filled"

"Maybe it's half-empty and needs refill" Said a voice at his back.

Jim tilted his head and found a guy standing in front of him. He was tall and slim, with dark skin and pouty pink lips. He rose a slender but strong hand and took the drink from Dray's hand to put it in front of Jim.

"Here, in case you're thirsty, you can count on me whenever you need a refill" Said with a mischievous smirk.

Jim swallowed. His curly short hair, his arm and his mouth, he looked so familiar, he kind of looked like Gabe, but a three hundred times hotter. Perfect.

Jim licked his lips. "That's is perfect, cuz I'm very thirsty tonight"

….

I took pictures of the guy that threw himself on top of the crowd and ended in the floor with a bloody nose. Another of the girl whose pant tore and everyone saw her butt. The clique of nerds dancing like mad. Kristie dancing with one, two, three guys. Kristie kneeling on the floor being splashed by five bottles at the same time in the face. It was a good material and the best part is that all the pictures where already in my Facebook account. Kyle would freak out when he saw it.

Kristie seemed pretty drunk already, so, it was time to call Kyle to bring the pizza to the house. I came to the backyard again hoping not to find Moron waiting for me and called Liam again.

"Ready Sweetie?" Liam asked at the other side of the line.

"Ready" I confirmed cutting the call.

Everything was according to the plan. Now…It would be cool to have some footages of Jack, he got to be pretty drunk by now, I mean, if I was a dizzy already and Kristie wasted Jack would probably be puking his lungs out somewhere. It would be cool to catch him in video and show it to Jim later, because I didn't tell him about of the party to not tempt him to come and ruin everything. So…Let's play where is Jacky?

_Jacky, Jacky, Jacky, here boy_ I thought while I walked in again. I came to the living room and sauntered slowly scanning the crowd, but it was hard with the smoke machine and the spinning lights. I thought I saw him a couple of times but later I realized that that it wasn't him but another hot guy.

All the bathroom were closed and long lines of girls awaited outside them. The room at the left was taken a couple. The room at the bottom was completely closed and you couldn't hear anything from outside.

When I passed by the middle room I heard really disturbing noises, whoever was having sex in there was having the time of their lives. Damn! I felt bad for a second, I mean, young adults could be so easy minded sometimes, just pack them in a closed place, given them music and booze and it all ends the Same way. Now I understood Derek's complains about those kind of parties.

I peeked through the key hole hoping to find Jack having sex with someone but bah… It was a boring orgy of three guys and five girls. Nothing out of ordinary.

Damn it! Where was Jackson Whittemore? This wasn't funny anymore.

I climbed down stairs to find Kristie and Allison, with some luck they would know where he was. I looked around hoping to find them dancing with hot dudes as the last time I saw them but… They weren't there. I kept walked until I spotted sitting the couch near the dining room with their heads their heads swaying and their eyes half-opened. They were laughing thought I could swear Kristie was crying.

Did something happen? Did Kyle came sooner than expected? I hoped not! I wanted it to record their fight.

They laughed hard and I approached them from behind to ask them about Jack when I kind of eavesdropped their conversation.

"Oh my god I'm so happy for you!" Kristie said excited as she hugged Allison.

"Yeah, it's been a rough year, working this hard and not being able to touch the money at all" She replied with a half-drunk chuckle.

"Butitwillworthtet" Kristie slurred. "I want to do the same but I'm not sure now, Kyle has changed, I don't know if he loves anymore"

"Of course he loves you!" Allison assured.

"I've seen the way he looks at you" Kristie said with sadness.

Did she? Oh great!

"Don't be stupid Kristie, Kyle doesn't like me. You're being paranoid"

"You think?" Kristie chuckled.

Allison nodded.

"Well and when do you guys move? Did you find a place already?"

"Not yet, I found the perfect place near school, it will be perfect for us, is pretty intimate and not too much expensive, that way I could work some more and buy a kitchen, you know how much he likes cooking"

"Yeah, Stily is a great chef" Kristie nodded.

What? I wasn't a chef! And I wasn't moving out with A…. Derek! Derek and Allison were moving out together. He was going to leave! He was going to leave me!

I…I needed air…. I was going to puke. They weren't talking about me, of course Allison pretended she talked about me but she was actually talking about him, she was going to take him away from me, far.

My head spin, my cup fell from my hands and splashed all around me. I needed to get out of there. My breathing hitched. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't breathe. My chest throbbed. I held it and ran away from them pushing angry on my way. I needed to get out, please someone get me out. Someone wake me up!

I tripped with something and fell to get the floor.

Someone offered a hand and I took it help straightened myself, I lost all my strength after hearing what they were saying and now couldn't even stand.

"Thanks" I said still breathing heavily and then our eyes met and my heart skipped a beat.

Bared pale chest, with amazing abs and sweaty skin. Large and gentle hands. Intense avocado eyes opened wide matching the jaw dropped from the face that stared at me openmouthed.

It was him! Oh my god it was him! Yeah, You-know-who! And I'm not talking about Voldemort.

It was Isaac.

….

Without much decorum they went to Jim's car. He didn't want to go a hotel room, he couldn't wait. He was too horny and wanted to do it right there.

He threw the guy on his back over the back seat and sat on top of him staring to take off his dress shirt.

"You're beautiful" The guy said gently.

_Whatever._ Jim thought rolling his eyes. He leaned and kissed his lips. They tasted like cherries and were a little spicy by the drink he was having.

He kissed Jim back and then stroke his cheeks. "Your skin is so soft like…"

"Could you just shut up and fuck me?" Jim grunted.

"Sorry" The guy giggled and kissed Jim again and softly and with a big effort, like if he wanted to say something special with it.

Stupid dude, it was casual sex, they weren't getting married or anything.

Quickly he drew his hands to Jim's pants and started unbuttoning them. Feeling the brush of his hands on his body made him forget how moody he was. He could finally relax and feel him.

Of course he was having a great time…It was so good… He knew I was wrong about…His mouth was curling around his…What would Jack be doing now? It was late already so he was probably at be with…

Jim shook his head and focused on the blowjob he was getting. The tongue playing with his…What if he was awa…

Jim jerked and pushed the guy aside.

"Hey! What's up?" Hotter Gabe said frowning.

Jim zipped up his pant and came out of the car. "Get out!" He ordered angrily.

"But… What…?"

"Just get the hell out of here!" Jim growled.

The guy stood and arranged his shirt to come out of the car. "Fine princess, you aren't that hot either" The guy ranted walking out.

Jim snorted furious. "You wish you could have this, loser!"

When the guy got back into the club Jim climbed in the car sucked a breath and then started punching the steering wheel wrathfully.

….

"Mi…Stily" He said with shaky voice. "What….What?"

No! No! No! No! No! I wasn't ready for this. Not after all the things I've lived that night! I couldn't just…I needed to…

I ran away.

I pushed more and more people and some even fell and cursed me, but I didn't care…I had to get out of there, I needed to stay away from him, my heart throbbed so hard I thought it would explode, it beat harder than the music and was choking me.

A hand took me by the shoulder and made me spin.

"Wait" He said with his eyes still out of focus. Like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"What do you want?" I whispered breathless.

"I…I need to talk to you"

"I have…I have not…"

"He has nothing to talk to you" A deep menacing voice said suddenly and my heart gave a lurch.

"Mind your own business Derek" Isaac growled glaring at him.

I tilted my head and Saw Derek standing back to me with his eyes fixed on the guy who ruined my life and almost made me kill myself.

"I just need to talk with Stily" Isaac said a little intimidated.

"Great!" Derek chuckled despitefully. "Talk"

"In private" Isaac corrected.

"He's not going anywhere with you"

I craned my neck and looked at him. Shinning below the lights of the party, looking like a real charming prince with his chiseled face bright ice-blue eyes burning. He was that Derek, the one who always looked out for me. The one who protected me no matter what. He was Derek, the…Prince…That was leaving forever.

"You think that just because you're big now you can boss him around?" Isaac spat angrily.

"No, I know that since I'm big I can put your pretty boy face inside your own butt whenever I want, though I'm pretty sure it has been there from the beginning" Derek laughed.

"Come and say it to my…"

"Shut up! Okay?" I shrilled. "I have nothing to talk to you, you hear me? You're the worst person I've ever met, you're worse than shit Isaac Lahey and I don't wanna see you ever again!" My voice cracked and tears climbed to my eyes.

"And you, stop pretending you care about me, I don't believe you anymore"

I leaved them there and walked to the door shaking like an old washer machine. I opened the door and stumbled with someone.

"Stily! What the hell is going on here?" Kyle said gaping at me and the party at my back.

"Leave me alone Kyle!" I yelled grimacing while the tears started streaming and I cursed looked back. Isaac saw me leave still openmouthed while Derek came after me and Kyle kept staring. It was like the reunion of the ghost of the past Christmas. They were all in the same room watching me cry like the loser I was, those selfish and stupid assholes that only existed to make my life miserable…Those…Horrible human beings.

I heard him calling my name while I walked out of there to head to the train stating, it was a couple of blocks away and it didn't matter how much I walked he kept calling me, until suddenly, he was right in front of me. I cursed my damn short legs glared at him.

"What do you want?" I demanded with breath hitched again, blinking frantically to not let another tear get spilled.

"What the hell was all that?" Said Derek looking at me with fear leaping through his eyes.

"What? That you came uninvited?" I grunted.

"I came with a friend, what's all this? What is Isaac doing there? And what's that…I pretend I care about you? Jesus Stiles! I know we're mad at each other right now but of course I still care about you…I'm mad at you because I'm concerned that if you…"

"I know the truth alright!" I yelled "When you were going to tell me? What do you expected? That I woke up one morning and found your bed empty?"

"What are you talking about?" He frowned.

"That you're moving out with Allison!" I screamed breathless.

He paled and his eyes came out of focus. "Stiles…"

A lighting lit everything for half a second and the blast overwhelmed me while drops staring falling on top of me. Of course! RAIN!

"What are you going to tell me? That you're the biggest hypocrite in the world? That when Jim suggested that I should move with him you freaked out and almost threw him out of our dorm?"

"No! I'm saying that…"

"I don't care okay? This would happen someday!" I suddenly laughed. "I don't know why I always felt like it was always going to be us!"

"Stiles I'm…"

"Go! Move with Allison! Be happy! Get married, Have kids! And live happily ever after! I don't care! I don't need you anymore, all I wanted was you to tell me truth, but you weren't man enough to do it"

I turned and ran and he got me by the arm but I let go. "Don't touch me! I hate! I hate you! Stay away from me! You hear me? Stay away!" My voice was pasty and I couldn't hold it anymore, the lump on throat won and now I was whining. The good thing is…That it rained so hard, that no one would tell that I was crying.

….

All the lights were out and yet he climbed out of the car and took a pebble from the street and threw it to the first window at the right.

There was no response.

He took another and threw. Still not response and then he recalled that cellphones existed and that he was acting like a teenager in a movie.

The dialed and after two minutes the window lit up.

"Hello?" Said Jack's groggy voice.

"Hi Jacky" Said Jim cheerful.

"What do you want?" Jack said harshly.

"I'm just…Came to say hi" Replied Jim a little embarrassed.

"Came?" Said Jack confused.

"I'm downstairs" Explained Jim at the moment Jack peeked through the window and he waved at him.

"Wait a minute"

Jim lied his back against his car and waited for ten minutes until the front door opened and Jack came out with his arms crossed and his brow wrinkled. "What are you doing here?"

"I…Thought we could hang out"

"Hang out? This late? Are you crazy?"

"What? You're not a kid anymore" Jim reminded him.

"Wait a minute…So you show up suddenly and now you're talking to me?"

"Look Jacky…"

"What are you going to say? I went to your house! I looked for you and you didn't reply, and now you show up as if nothing…"

"I wasn't at home okay?" Jim affirmed.

"Your car was in the building" Jack pointed out pouting his lips like an angry little boy.

Jim rolled his eyes. God! He….Seriously hated him! He didn't even know what the hell he was doing there.

"I was sick, and mother heard and looked for me and took me with her, I spent the week in the hospital" He lied.

Jack gaped. "Oh! James…I'm so sorry I… Didn't…"

"It's okay, it wasn't a big thing, it was just a flu, but mother is too overprotective"

Jim smirked.

"Come on, let's go out" Jim offered and climbed to the car.

Jack titled his head to his home thoughtfully and then got into the passenger's seat.

Jim drove back to his place. They didn't talk at all, Mr. Chirpy mouth Jackson Whittemore seemed like didn't have anything to say, he was probably really embarrassed for thinking wrong about Jim. If he only knew that he got all the right in the world to be bad.

They got into Jim's loft and he led Jack to the roof but before Jim couldn't even explain what they were doing there Jack spoke.

"I thought you were mad at me" Said looking at the lights of the buildings amazed.

Jim scoffed. "Why I would be mad at you?" He laughed.

Jack chuckled. "I asked myself the same over and over again"

Jim held a chuckled.

"What are we doing here anyway?"

Jim pointed up. "Look" He said staring at the stars with a smile. "I brought you here to ask a wish birthday boy"

"You know it's my birthday?" Jack said amazed.

"Of course, I wouldn't forget it" Jim affirmed trying to not think it all the times he saw Jack Facebook's profile. Of course he wouldn't forget his birthday.

They lied on the wet floor of the roof and stared at the shiny starts clashing the darkness of the night.

"Did you asked your wish?" Jim said arching a brow.

"I'll tell you if you tell me first" Jack chuckled.

"About what?" Jim frowned next to him.

"About your dreams, what James Taylor wishes for every night?"

Jim laughed. "I'm not sure, if you would have asked that months ago I would have said something like being famous or something like that"

"But now?" Jack asked.

"I don't know I feel a little lost, I mean I got everything people would ever want. I'm rich and got a great family, even though sometimes I want to choke my brothers to death" He laughed.

"So…You don't have dreams anymore?"

Jim shook his head. "I think I have nothing to wish for anymore, at least not for me, I have everything I want…But then I think about the people who doesn't…I don't know the kids in the center, it changed something inside me…I just feel like is so unfair they are going through all that crap and there are countries where people fight for food, I wish those kids had something else in their lives"

"So… You…"

"I think my new dream is to help theirs become true" He finished embarrassed.

There was an awkward silence that lasted at least five minutes and then Jack spoke softly. "That is the most beautiful dream of all"

Jim blushed. "So? What do you asked to the stars?"

"I wished all your dreams became true"

Jim held his breath and felt something bumping him in the chest.

"I mean it!" Jim laughed.

"I do too"

_Crap!_ He thought. He couldn't stand him!

He stood and came in without saying anything more while Jack called him at his back but he ignored him.

After a couple of minutes he came out carrying the large box on his hands.

"I was thinking you could wish something like this" He laughed giving the box to Jack.

Jack sit openmouthed as he swiftly ripped the gift wrap and pulled the guitar out of the box.

"James is a…"

"Gibson" Jim said proudly. "When I was at the hospital I asked mother to get it for me"

"Oh my god! Thank you so much!" Said Jack still shocked. "I can't believe it!"

"It's nothing"

"I'll sing your song!" Said excited. He prepared and slowly the lulling and beautiful song filled the cold air. "He is sad…"

"You still don't know the lyrics" Laughed Jim.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm a little nervous" Jack said with shaky voice.

Jim rolled his eyes. "Flip it" He ordered.

Jack frowned and did as Jim bid Jim bid him, revealing the back of the guitar where Jack's name was engraved along with a pair of wings at its sides.

"It has my name on it!" He smiled like a kid with a new toy.

"So… How was your birthday?" Jim asked with a grin.

"Well, at first I thought it wouldn't be a good day but then you showed up and gave me exactly what I wanted"

"Yeah?" Jim chuckled. "I thought you said you loved your dad's guitar"

"I'm not talking about the guitar" Jack correct him between laughs. "All I wanted for my birthday was to spend the day with my best friend, and you gave it to me" He whispered leaning to hug Jim.

Oh! Awkward hug….Was it? Jim hugged him back to not look like a heartless bastard but after a few seconds he felt too uncomfortable and let go. "So…. What name are you going to put on it?" He said changing the subject.

Jack scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I think it would be Angel"

"Angel?" Jim repeated pondering it.

"Yeah, it will be an Angel like you"

Jim's heart gave a lurch and he jerked his head toward Jack.

"After what you said about your dreams I know it, you're an angel James, you came to this world make people's life happier, just like you did with me"

Jim stared at him. Witty comments, snarky words or anything else. There was nothing. For the first time in the history of humanity, James sassy ass Taylor was speechless. He didn't know what to say or do or at least that is what he was trying to convince himself because…

"Wow! It's really late, I'm sorry but I have to go home, if my mom wakes up and she…"

"It's okay!" Jim smiled. "I'll take you"

And so he did. Jim drove to Jack's home while the boy played beautiful songs for them and saved Jim the bother of talking, he still was… Shocked, his night kept coming to his mind, all the things he did, the anxiety attack, the way he treated that guy in the club, how he yelled at Carlos. It all faded at some point and he didn't even noticed.

He left Jack at his home and came back to his loft.

He turned the lights off with a flick of his wrist and threw his car keys over the coffee table of the living room. Took his laptop and went to his room.

He sat on his bed and snatched a small memory from bellow his pillow, plugging it into his laptop.

"Not just say it, mean it, because it's true" The voice of Jack echoed in his room from his laptop.

"I'm a good person" Jim heard his own voice say inside the rock of the lake "I'm a good person" Repeated again in the video….The that was supposedly lost when Kristie stole his clothes!

He lied to me! He lied to me! And worst of all….I didn't know it!

Jim closed his laptop and sighed. He couldn't denied anymore. He was a good person and…. He was deeply and irremediably in love with Jackson Whittemore.


	12. Chapter 12

CHEATERS

Have you ever felt like not being brave enough to be yourself? Like getting out of bed could be the scariest thing that could happen to you? Well, I used to feel that way sometimes and now that I knew Derek and Allison's plans the least thing I wanted to do was to face real world. Don't get me wrong, I was supposed to be mad at him, but mad like crazy for no understanding and for judging me but…I always thought that…I always thought that we would sort things out eventually as we always did. But everything was different now, he was leaving because he couldn't stand me anymore. He was going to leave me because Allison was funnier and beautiful and kind, and probably a better roommate than I would ever be.

That's the thing about all this mess. I felt cheated. Of course not betrayed in a romantic way. Long time ago I learned that Derek wouldn't love me that way. I'm talking about in a more naïve but meaningful way. The way of the best friends, the besties, you know the mate of your life. That friend that it didn't matter how many years or relationship could came thought, he would always be by your side because not fate or even something as strong as vagina's scent could tear you both apart.

I was wrong though. I hated Allison…I hated her and it felt so wrong. I wanted to cry. She was my friend, she was supposed to be my partner in crime but she also was Derek's girl. Why would he want to leave with her? What am I saying? It was clear. They were a couple, they were happy. There was no place for me and we were growing up, it was the nature order of things, you know, finding that significant other, move together, get married, have kids and live happily ever after.

If only gays could have that too.

I think it was ten in the morning or maybe late afternoon. I can't tell because the sun was especially shiny and annoying, like when you just want to hide and someone aims at you with a spotlight leaving you exposed. That's how I felt.

I was hiding under the covers. If I was lucky maybe…I wouldn't have to see the moment he took his stuffs and left for good.

I know I was being possessive and selfish but I couldn't help it. I was so used to see Derek every time everywhere that… The idea of not having him around anymore seemed like the worst thing that could happen to me. I was helpless without him and it was all his fault. He never taught me, he never told me that this would end he never showed me how to be Stiles without him. Now I was someone new, a blank canvass. I didn't know how to cook, or how to repair a computer, who would remind me to shoot something for Mr. Anderson's finals? Who would leave me have the first bite of his birthday cake? Who would yell at me when I did something wrong? Who was going to hold me when my world fell apart?

I rubbed my eyes and peeked through the gap in the quilt. Everything was in place, all his dirty socks were scattered on the floor as usual, though… He wasn't in his bed. He wasn't leaving yet. Well, now that I thought about it I kind of recalled that Allison said that they weren't moving just yet.

I sucked a breath with a bit of relief, but they were definitely going away in the near future, so I had to get used to the idea of a world without autumn.

I know what you're thinking and no, I wasn't overreacting so leave me alone with my pity party and go see what the hell Jim was doing. I needed to sleep, at least in my dreams I could be someone else and forget all the crap that I lived the night before.

…..

In more boring news guess who woke up with a smile on his face. Yup Jimmy. I'm really mad at him for being a traitor but of course I still didn't know that he betrayed the project and hell that I was going to freak out when I found out the truth. Anyway let's go to what matter here. Jim was happy.

He wasn't sure of what he dreamed but…He recalled Jack's smile, you know that perfect way his lips curved up slightly while he showed all those impeccable and white teeth as he saw Jim straight in the eye with those intense azure twin pools that let you breathless while Jim tried not look at those charming dimples that could make anyone surrender to Jackson Whitmore.

He was in love and it was a huge relief to finally be brave enough to admit it. It was the same feeling like when you come out of the closet, a weight that vanishes from your shoulders, it was that freedom that his body craved so hardly to reach. That's the way he felt, complete and utterly happy but…There were some problems of course.

The project, me and the fact that Jack wasn't gay because he wasn't, right?

Oh god Jim was a total mess! I mean, he was so confused and dazed and his chest wouldn't stop throbbing so hard any time he thought about Jack. He was smiling like a dork and sighing like a high school girl. He couldn't believe he could fall this hard for someone and less for Jack who could be such a loser and surprisingly lovely at the same time.

The betches said that Jack was gay, that they saw in the videos the way he looked at Jim or were they talking about Kyle and me? He wasn't sure but he could swear they said it. What if it was true? What if Jack was in love with Jim too? He said it himself the night before, Jim was an angel to him, someone who came to this world and made his life even happier than it was…Jim chewed his bottom lip thinking about it and he had to hold his chest or his heart could break his ribcage, it was a wonderful and scaring feeling at the same time and he liked it, he liked so much that he realized that he had become addicted to Jack's stares and smirks and chuckles and his attitude of dumb boy and the intoxicating smell of his robust and masculine scent. Jim was addicted to Jack and he didn't want to go to rehab.

It was something stupid but… When Jack called that morning to ask him if he was going to center that day Jim stopped to the car outside his home. He had to ride a long way just pick Jack to later go back to the other side of the city to see the kids but he didn't care, he wanted to spend as much time with him as possible though at the same time he felt so guilty and mad with himself. Why? Why this had to happen to him? It had to be cruel joke of the universe, of all people Jim could fall for he did it for Jack who was not just the very opposite of Jim but also his supposed enemy, yet, he didn't want to think about it. For that very day he would forget about me and the project and he would enjoy his day with Jack and the kids.

So they got in the center and his joy just increased, partially because Jack was shocked when he found Jim outside his home that day and plus that early and also because the kids looked so happy to see them as usual. He just couldn't believe he had been actually looking forward the whole week to spend the day with them watching movies and playing games, he couldn't explain it but, it made him feel so happy, they were so cute and funny and adorable. How could Jim be two persons at the same time? He didn't understand it but it was definitely what was happening with him, it was like two beings living inside him and he was starting to embrace this new side of him that he was unaware of.

Emily had a bad night, according to Amanda she had nightmares and she didn't want to come out of bed, so they decided to visit her and takes some movies them, in matter of minutes the whole room was crowded with dozens of kids while they watched Frozen and sang "_let it go" _Together, even Jim who knew he wasn't a good singer like Jack, but it didn't matter, he actually couldn't concentrate in the whole movie, he could swear he felt Jack's eyes on him and he couldn't help feeling uneasy and nervous and he wanted to stand and runway and laugh at the Same time and he was starting to act like a psychopath.

He tried to concentrate in the movie just to realize that it was over already. Emily looked a little better now though Jim thought she still looked a little pale. Jack brought Angel with him so he thought it was a good idea to sing for the kids and they spent most of the day listening to him lulled by his beautiful voice.

Oh crap Jim really fell in his trap! He couldn't help it, he couldn't stop looking at him and smiling, it's weird how your life can change in one night, in a whisper, in a sentence said in the right place in the right time.

"It was nice" Jack said suddenly and Jim blinked.

"What?" He asked confused.

Jack gave him a sidelong look and Jim's heart skipped a beat.

"When you joined me in that last song" Jack explained.

"I…" He did what? He didn't recall doing that! Oh god! He hadn't just fall! He was acting like a loser! He needed to contain himself or else Jack might suspect he had feelings for him.

"Yeah I…" Crap he didn't know what to reply.

"Is lunch time!" A voice called at the door and the kids, the nurses and Jack started striding off while Jim noticed that most of the woman and the younger nurses stared at Jack with bright eyes, they were drooling for him. Great Jim got competition!

He bit his bottom lip trying to getting rid of his stupid grin and walked to the door.

When he came out he found the hallway empty. Damn he thought they just left! Great now he was losing the notion of time and space, at that point he would end up living in wonderland.

"James!" Said a familiar voice at his left and a chill ran his spine.

He craned his neck and forced a smirk. "Hi Mrs. Whitmore"

"Oh James! How many times have I told you to call me Lorraine?" The woman said pretending a chastising voice while she smiled.

Today she wore a long lavender dress and one or her usual matching sweaters.

"It would disrespectful" He replied pressing his lips in a thin line.

"Oh you're such a gentlemen don't you?"

Jim forced a smile again. "Jack is in the dining room so if you…"

She looked both ways and then made him signs to stay silence as if they were about to make something mischievous. "I'll see Jackson later, first I would love to have some words with you" She whispered.

His heart gave a lurch. What? Shit! What happened? Oh no! She knew…She knew that Jim…No! _Calm down betch, before last night not even you knew it so focus and stop acting like dumb. _"What can I do for you?"

She frowned with a silly smirk on her lips and then sighed. "It's complicated" She admitted. "Tell me James, Jack and you are really close don't you?"

Jim had to make an effort to not blush. "I…Um… I don't think we are that close"

"Oh come on! He won't stop talking about you the whole day"

Really? Jim's heart climbed to his throat and started choking him.

"See James I'm sure you're aware of this and this is why I need your help, you know Beverly right?"

Jim nodded.

"I'm concerned about Jackson and her" She sighed with disappointment.

So this is what is was all about.

"You don't need to worry, I'm sure they will be okay" Jim consoled.

"Are you sure?" The woman smiled hopeful.

"Jack loves her, I'm sure of it" He hoped not.

"I know he loves her James but I'm so concerned, her mother and I thought that maybe they broke up for some grownups problems so God forgive us, we took her to have a pregnancy test"

They did what? What the hell was wrong with those women? Jim knew he despised Beverly but it would be so awful for her to face that situation, poor girl, she wasn't a teenager to be forced to those kind of things.

"Mrs. Whitmore you don't need to worry, I'm sure Jack respects Beverly and her family and never would touch her"

"I'm so glad to hear that!" She said with relief. "You don't know how happy you make me. I'm trying James, I'm really trying to understand young boys but the idea of premarital sex... I don't want my Jackson to get in trouble"

"He'll be fine"

"As long as he has such a good friend and counselor as you I bet he will"

Jim smiled a little calmer now, she was just a psychopath. He could handle her. There was nothing to be afraid of. Jack wouldn't come back with Beverly because he didn't love her anymore so it didn't matter what Lorraine said they…

"Would you make me a favor?"

He didn't like how that sounded. "Um…Yeah, of course" He said though deep inside he was thinking the opposite.

"Could you talk to…?"

"I don't know Mrs. Whitmore, it is Jack's thing I don't want to…"

"James please! I wouldn't ask you this if I had a choice, I don't want to trouble you but I'm desperate. They were a couple for so many years, I don't want their story to have this sad ending but he doesn't want to talk to her and they were such a lovely couple, we thought they could get married this December"

What? Was that people insane? Didn't they notice how much Jack and Beverly hated each other? Well that was too harsh, they didn't hate each other but…Beverly definitely didn't enjoy his company much.

"I don't know Mrs. Whitmore, I mean, I would love to help you…"

"Really? Thank you so much! I knew you wouldn't disappoint me…"

Wait! That's not fair! She didn't let him finish!

"I'm so happy that Jack…"

Shut up bitch! Let him talk!

"Has such a good friend I'm sure he will ask you to be his best mate and…"

Shut up! Just shut up!

"And your friendship will last forever"

_Friendship. _Jim thought with sadness.

"Here you are I saved you a place next to…" Jack's voice was suddenly saying at his back. "Mom what are you doing here?"

"Oh I came to see you boys, right James?" She winked at him.

Jim replied with a bland smirk.

"Come one, it's time for lunch, you should join us mom"

"Oh no honey I got things to do and I lost a bit of time trying to find you. I'll come for you in a couple of hours"

Damn! For being a Christian that Woman lied too much.

"It's okay. James will take me home"

"Are you sure?"

Jim nodded.

"Excellent"

And said so she vanished.

"Come on or your food will get cold" Jack said happily putting a hand and Jim's shoulder while he felt how the warmness of his touch spread all around his body and Jim let out a flat smile. Great now he needed to find a way to get Jack and Beverly together when deep inside all he wanted was the opposite.

….

I don't know how many more hours passed but…I still didn't want to get out. I couldn't handle it, it would be scary, it was better to live in denial, to just forget about everything and pretend that it still was sleeping time. I don't know but I kind of felt like I got depression, not that I just was sad but like clinically depressed, I mean, every time that something with a guy happened I ended up in bed without strength enough to face the world. Now that I thought about it…Every time that I felt like shit, powerless and like the world was fall apart Derek was somehow involved. Maybe he was the root of all my problems, maybe it was better if he just left.

I heard the doorknob and my guts squirmed. Steps came in and even though I didn't want to look I couldn't contain myself. I wanted to see if it was him, so slowly I opened my eyes and peeked again trough the gap in the quilt.

He was looking at me! He was looking at me! Oh crap! My heart gave a lurch and I cursed myself.

"What are you doing?" He asked arching a brow as he looked at me with anger and some disappointment.

I didn't reply and just hid again and closed my eyes.

I felt a light object landing on top of me. He threw me a pillow! Wow that was so mature of you Derek!

I ignored him.

Another pillow.

I kept ignoring him.

Another pillow.

Another pillow? Seriously, how many of them he got there? Argh! He was an asshole! Why he couldn't just leave me alone? I wanted to…Argh!

"What do you want?" I said without coming out of my safe zone.

"Can we have an adult conversation for once?" I heard his voice say at the other side of the covers.

"Are you going to throw me another pillow don't you?" I asked.

"No" He replied sternly.

I sighed feeling the fear climbing to my chest and took off my covers.

He threw me a pillow straight in the face.

Argh! He was an idiot! I…I hated him! Why he had to be so childish and stupid and…? God I wanted to cry… I had to blink a couple of times to not let him have my tears, I wouldn't cry for another man in my life and less for Derek. That was a promise.

"Come on" He said patting the place next to him in his bed.

I held my breath and walked what felt like miles, it was the no turning back point, we were having _"the"_ conversation. It was a goodbye for us and I had to be strong and face it.

I sat next to him noticing the warmness of his body next to mine and wondering if we ever would be that close ever again.

I shook my head. _Grown up Stiles. _

He cleared his throat and took off his glasses. "Look I don't know where you…?"

"Heard about your plan? Let's just say that Allison couldn't wait to share the news with everyone, the funny thing is that I was the last…"

"Can you please just let me talk?" He grunted in a menacing way.

I swallowed and shut up embarrassed.

He looked frustrated and exhausted. All his features were tense. His eyes were a little sore and his expression was stark.

He sighed. "Look I'm…"

Someone knocked the door.

"Jesus Christ!" Derek said angry at the moment the door swum open and drums roll…Kyle came in.

"Oh hey!" He said staring at us a little confused.

"Kyle! What are you doing here?" I asked trying to process what was going on. They were both in the same room again…It got to be a joke! And if now Isaac came from below my bed I swear I was done.

"I um… I need to talk to you Stily" He said listlessly and something clicked inside me.

It happened! They broke up! I did it! I did…

"I'm sorry Kyle but I'm…" I started craning my neck toward Derek. I needed to hear it, it couldn't wait any longer. I needed him to give the final blow and leave from my life to start over from the beginning, to be reborn like the phoenix I always hoped Dumbledore was when my JK put an end to my childhood. It was time to start over and work in my project without distractions and now that Kyle and Kristie had split I had an excuse to not hang out with that Allison traitor ever again.

"It's fine…I got things to do anyway, so come in and chat with _Stily_" Derek said with despise as he stood and strode off passing by a very confused Kyle.

"What his problem?" Kyle asked grimacing as he sat next to me and I quickly stood. I don't know why but it felt wrong of both of us sitting in Derek's bed, it was like something forbidden.

"Nothing, he's just jealous of me as usual" I replied standing up and going to my bed.

He followed me.

"What's going on? Did something happen?" I asked innocently though I was pretty sure what it was all about.

He sighed and glanced down. "I want to ask you something"

"What?" I frowned.

"Can I trust you Stily?" He said with some sadness.

I…What was wrong with him? I nodded. "Kyle…Are you okay?"

"Did you made out with Kristie last night?" He asked and I…What the fuck? I mean, what the fucking fuck?

"No!" I hurried to say. "Why I would do that?"

"I'm not stupid Stily, I know something happened in the party, people told me and the way you left last night and how you looked at me…"

"What are you talking about? I didn't kiss her! You're my friend I wouldn't do that to you!" I should have done that do him!

"Then why you didn't tell me you were going to the party? Why you left that way when you saw me?" He glared at me.

"That wasn't my party! That was Kristie's and I thought she told you about it, she is your girlfriend. She is the one who should tell you about her plans not me!" Ha! Take that!

"And why did you left that way when you saw me? It seemed like you saw a ghost or something" He sighed and stared straight in my eyes as if he was looking for the answer. Don't…Don't look at me that way asshole!

I looked away blushing a little.

"I…I left because there were some assholes making fun of me at the party and I was really pissed"

He gaped. "Really? Oh…I'm…I'm so sorry"

"Yeah I didn't think I would find the same guys from the gym there, I thought it would be an intimate party, I didn't know Kristie was friend with those bullies"

He blinked taken by surprise. Oh god! I was such a good liar! I don't even know where did it came out but hell! It was a good idea to finish sinking their relationship. Soon Kyle would be mine to play and hell that I was going to play with him.

"Why do they hate you so much?" He said with sadness.

"I wish I knew, there are people who just make your life a living hell because they think they have the right to do it"

He glanced down. "I'm really sorry"

"Its fine" I smiled at him. "What is it all about anyway? Why you think I would do that to you?"

"Kristie is cheating on me" He replied a little embarrassed and sad.

"What? Dude…I'm really sorry" I said a little shocked. I mean, what? I just posted those pictures to make Kyle believe that Kristie cheated on him but I was sure she wouldn't do it. He was so easy to manipulate.

"Don't play the fool with me, I saw the pictures you posted" He accused.

"Wow wait! We were just having fun and I took some pictures, I have nothing to do with whatever she have done in the party and I think you're overreacting. Kristie…"

"People told me Stily, they saw her fooling around with a guy!"

"What if she was fooling around? I bet you do that a lot"

He glared at me. "How can you say that?"

"Oh come on Kyle, we're guys it is in our nature to be promiscuous" Did I say it right? Promiscuous? Do straight guys say promiscuous? I'm not sure I think they say being normal! But if I gay guy does it then he is _promiscuous_. Well, fuck you society's double standards.

"I wouldn't do that to her I love her!" He roared and…Oh…Nah, he was lying, of course he was… All the horrible human beings cheat at their girls, it is part of their nature. They can't help it. He was messing with me, he was playing Mr. Moral and values…He couldn't possibly be…

"Have you done that do Allison then?" He said looking at me with disgust and disappointment.

What? Was Kyle seriously chastising me about girls? Oh hell to the no!

_I don't like vaginas! And less Allison's traitor one. _

"No! I wouldn't cheat on Allison! Are you crazy? Have you seen her? Not in a million years someone like me would get someone like her again" A double faced bitch? I hoped not.

"What do you mean by someone like you?" He said frowning.

Duh! "Oh come on Kyle, haven't you looked at me closely? I'm not very good looking" I said looking away.

He rolled his eyes. "You got to be kidding me, you're not ugly so stop making this about you I need a friend right now and you're not helping"

He thought I wasn't ugly? I…Bah! He was probably just saying that to play with me. "I'm sorry but what do you want me to do? I didn't see anything so…"

"But you took the pictures" Kyle reminded me.

"So what?"

"Facebook suggests tagging people even if you aren't friend with them. I want you to find the guy she was fooling with"

"Are you insane? She danced like with the whole town!" I teased. Oh Kristie forgive me! I couldn't miss that chance.

His eyes almost popped out of his eyes after hearing that and for a second I thought he was going to hit me, yet, he just balled his hands and set his jaw. "Help me Stily, please"

"Why don't you just talk to her and…?"

"I can't, she's grounded because of the party"

"She is twenty one Kyle" I reminded him.

"Yeah but you don't know her aunt, she is kind of crazy and when I saw the party I freaked out and…"

"Oh my god! You called her!" I said scandalized.

"I was furious and if Kristie really cheated on me then I guess I did the right thing"

Oh this boy was such a drama queen! Please Kyle, Kristie was just telling Allison about how nice it would be to move out with you the night before! You know what? Men are kind of menstrual. First Derek getting out of the room like a spoiled kid and now Kyle freaking out because of a stupid party. It was good though, actually it was pretty good! I was going to use that and put an end to their relationship once and for all. I was getting sick of that crap and the project's presentation day was just a couple of weeks away.

"Alright. I'm in" I said nodding with commitment in my voice while deep inside I held a laugh.

….

Meanwhile in boring town Jim was having some issues. It was Monday afternoon. He just came out of one of his hardest finals and in just two weeks he would say goodbye to first trimester and hello to Sunset Valley. But first he had to stand the coach's talk about ditching training when the team needed him the most.

What a dramatic old man. Damn what was happening with everyone lately? It looked like the nearer summer was the craziest everyone went.

Anyway, Jim's family is friend almost with everyone. Everyone who's anyone of course. So before going to the playing field that day he visited one of his dad's doctor friend and asked her a fake note. Of course Sheila gave him a long and boring talk about how wrong and unethical was to do such thing but at the end he got the note anyway. He made her write that he got a tropical virus and was retained a whole week until he felt better.

I wasn't enough though. The coach was really mad at him so as punishment he…

"I can't do a thousand laps!" Jim protested after he heard what the man got prepared for him.

"I'm your coach and if I say jump you say 'how high sir?' Understood?"

"It is stupid, no one can do a thousand"

"Coach…"

"Stay out of this Jack" The man warned.

Jim rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to do them all today, you can do just one or three today and maybe just half tomorrow, but there is not training or championship for you until you show some commitment to the team"

"You got to be kidding me" Jim snapped balling his hands. "You punish me for not coming to training with no training?"

"It's funny, I wonder if someone could run five thousands"

Jim sighed. "Alright, alright…I'm on my way" He replied defeated shutting his mouth before he got to run a million laps before the end of summer.

He went to the other side of the field to start when he coach spoke again. "What you think you're doing?" He roared.

That was it! Jim was going to plant meth on his car and call the police he was sick of…What was doing Jack next to him?

"Jacky what…?"

"I came to see James to the clinic last week so I can confirm he was sick sir, but since I forgot to tell you I guess I'm guilty myself too" Jack lied very convincingly using his duty look.

The coach stared at them pressing his lips in a thin line while his mustache brushed his chin. He wanted to get Jack free of the penalty because he was more useful in the field but at the same time he didn't want to let Jim go that easily.

"Alright! You want to be a good friend Jackson, then you will run two thousands"

Jack snorted and started jogging.

Jim looked at the coach and then stared at Jack blinking…He lied for him, and not just lied, he…Did the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for him! And now they would have to spend a lot of time together…That was…That was oh God! Jim couldn't do anything about it, his chest throbbed so hard he easily could had have a heart attack and he would have died with a smile on his face.

And that's how Jim's week started. He wasn't sure how they did it but they managed to run eighty laps for what the training lasted. Jim would have loved to kick the guy's asses. Kev, Paul and Aidan wouldn't stop looking at them and laughing like dumbs, Jim would take revenge, he would make sure of that.

The coach was shocked for how hard they worked though he didn't say anything but you could tell by the way his mustache was arched as if it was a brow.

Jim would have liked to stay a little longer to reach the one hundred but…He was dying, all his muscles were sore and crying at him for mercy. Oh poor bastards, if they only knew they got weeks of hard work ahead.

When everyone was starting to leave Jim threw himself over the grass and stared at the orange sky and chuckled. He couldn't believe how exhausted he was but he didn't matter, he was in a bubble. He still thought about Jack supporting him and everything in his body squirmed. Maybe he was just hungry though, he hoped Martha have cooked something delicious for that day because he didn't want to think about cooking.

Nothing would ruin his day, it didn't matter if even the coach made them grow a mustache as ugly as his. He would do it gladly as long as Jack was with him. Well…One thing could ruin everything though, and that thing was Mrs. Whitmore' request.

He thought about it a lot the night before and actually he had sleeping problems. The idea of talking to Jack to get back with Beverly killed him. He was so happy with single Jack. Single Jack could be a gay Jack or maybe a bisexual Jack at least, but a Jack with girlfriend meant wedding and commitment and the idea of letting him go…

"Are you thirsty?" His voice said softly as he laid next to Jim offering a bottle of water.

Jim blushed and took it in his hands sipping from it.

"Thanks"

"Why the cranky face?" Jack frowned at him with a smirk on his lips.

Jim stared at him for a second, how he could be so calm after they ran as if they were being chased by gang of homophobes or worst, lawyers? Jim couldn't understand Jack sometimes, he seemed so flawless and unreal that now and then he felt afraid that he might not be real and that maybe he is just insane and in his mind he made up this perfect man that made him laugh and smile and feel happy and scared all at the same time.

He sighed. "I need to talk to you" whispered afraid of how this could turn out.

"Is everything alright?" Jack arched a brow thoughtful as they stared at the clouds that slowly hovered above them.

"Your mom came to talk me yesterday"

"What? Oh I'm sorry James! What did you she want? If this about going to church don't pay attention to her, I told her your family is very fond the priest of the church you attend"

And there he was. Jack lied again for Jim. It kind of felt wrong.

"Is not that, she came to talk me about Beverly and you" He explained hoping that if he told Jack about his mom and her request maybe he would be mad and turn things on Jim's favor.

"What?" Jack…Grunted? Jim couldn't believe he did it and...He looked kind of cute when he was mad.

"Look I know you don't want to talk to Beverly and everything but maybe if you talked to her, your mom could calm down a little, I'm not saying that you should get back with her, just talk and leave everything clear to ease your mom"

There was a long pause in which Jim noticed that everyone had left already and now they were lying next to each in the twilight stared at the last sunrays as the day died and the night rose and covered them with its blanket of secrets and intimacy.

"I don't know James" Jack said thoughtful. "I'm really hurt by the things she said"

"What she could have said that was so bad?" Jim asked.

"She said that the guys in the team weren't my friends at all but a bunch of drug addicts"

Jim held a laugh. Well it was kind of truth wasn't it?

"And she said so many things about Kristie. She said she was an awful person and that she didn't want me to talk to Kristie anymore"

Well…That wasn't that bad either…Kristie…Wasn't Jim's favorite person after all.

"And she said that she didn't like you at all, she said that you wouldn't let me alone, that were like my shadow that always were there lurking and bothering me. I told her she was wrong and she just yelled harder that if I liked you so much I should marry you instead of her"

Jack laughed.

Jim didn't.

"Wow" Jim said two minutes later with a bland grin.

"I'm really mad at her so I don't care what my mom do or says, I think this is it"

Jim laughed.

"What?" Jack arched a brow amused.

"Your mom even told me she took her to have a pregnancy test because she was concerned that…"

"She did what?" Jack shrieked. "What was she thinking? Oh no! I bet she found the condoms I have in my…"

Condoms? Condoms? Wait a second…If Jack had condoms it meant…Nah! Jim laughed. It had to be a misunderstanding.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I'm sorry it's just funny that your mom has the idea that you can be sexually active when …"

"I didn't want her to find it out that way" Jack sighed with disappointment and some fear in his voice. "Now she will want to talk about responsibilities, how wrong sex is and those stuffs and…"

Jim's heart skipped a beat and a bitter taste climbed to the back of his throat. "You're not virgin?" He said shocked.

Jack chuckled. "No"

Oh God! Jim wasn't sure why but…He felt hurt and betrayed which was stupid because Jack wasn't his boyfriend or anything to think that he was cheating on him with Beverly but…He kind of felt cheated.

"I'm sorry I just assumed that…"

"I know what you thought James and yeah I'm kind of a hypocrite myself but five years ago Beverly and I were alone at home and…I was kind of curious you know? I wanted to know what it would be like and she started kissing me and…We did it"

"Oh you're going to hell Jacky" Jim teased him in a jokingly tune but…Deep inside he felt like crap, but Why? It was a normal thing, everyone had sex and…Wait a second! Jack wasn't a virgin? OH GREAT! Now I was really pathetic, even St. Jackson had have action while I… was canonized in the Vatican! Mother Stily they would call me.

"Don't say that, I feel pretty bad already"

"But…It was just one time or…"

"No…Um… Actually we did it many times and… Oh I don't want to talk about it, it's embarrassing"

Jim would have smirked of Jack blushing with the idea of sex but he didn't feel in the humor of laughing anymore.

"I think we better go" Jim said sitting. He needed a bath and forget that they had that conversation.

"Yeah, I guess I'm gonna have to talk to my mom tonight and be honest with her about the sexual relationships and Beverly"

"So you're going to talk to Beverly after all?" Jim asked fearing the answer.

"I know what you're trying to do James and I appreciate that you want to help my mom but I can't help you with that. Beverly and I are done"

Jim smiled in his insides. Yeah! It was over! Over! Jack was single! Jack liked to be single! Jim liked that Jack was single!

He patted Jim in the back. "You're a good friend for trying though"

"Thanks" Jim replied holding the big chuckle that threatened with scape.

….

Well as you recall Kyle wanted me to become Sherlock Holmes and find out Kristie's secret lover and I couldn't be more amused about it. I spent my classes the next day thinking about what people have said and actually I did some research with Terrance. He was in Econ and he danced a lot with Kristie in the party the other day, and surprise some people in the acting program said that they saw him taking Kristie to the backyard to do things, some even said that they had sex in the middle of the dance floor in front of everybody and his friends wouldn't stop congratulating him. Conclusion everyone though that Kristie was a slut and that Terrance got lucky, more society double standards. Great now I felt bad for Kristie, it wasn't her fault she was just having a good time, why people had make things up about her and other girls just for dancing? It was cruel and before you say it was my fault let me remind you that all I did was to invite people to her house and never told her to get wasted and less to dance with dickheads.

I tried to resume my failed conversation with Derek that Monday after class but…He wouldn't talk to me, seriously! I couldn't understand him, one day he said "Hey let's act like grownups" and the other he just pretended I didn't exist. I didn't mind though, if he didn't talk to me we wouldn't have _"the" _conversation and as long as we didn't have _"the"_ conversation I wouldn't suffer because of that moron.

Getting back to Kyle, I wasn't going to do any boring research or anything, well, at least not for him but for me. Now that I didn't trust Allison I couldn't talk to her freely about the idea I got but… I wanted to know if she talked to Kristie that week because when I asked Kyle that Tuesday if he have talked to her already he told me he got no news from her.

Allison told me that Kristie was in her aunt's house under military regime because of the party but that she hoped to get out of the house on Thursday when her aunt went to a meeting of one of her hate groups and that way she could talk with Kyle. She already knew what people had been saying about her and she felt like crap and wanted to clear things up. By the way Allison said it, it felt like Kristie was prepared to break up with Kyle.

It was good news, not for Kristie of course, I felt bad for her and happy at the same time because she deserved something better than an Hhb as boyfriend, well, it was all over I was going to help her find the perfect guy for her which would he hard considering how douche straight guys were.

I felt a little anxious and frustrated though. I was two weeks away from the presentation day and I still didn't have that footage that would prove that Kyle, Jack and the twins were a bunch of motherfuckers. Actually the things were pretty good between the twins and Cass and Tim. I didn't have any news from Jim and Kyle was on drama mode, if I only had some extra time to tell him that I was gay and get everything messed between us. But I ran out of time, I lost a lot of it fooling around and now needed to rush things up, that's why I decided that I was going to spy Kyle's and Kristie conversation that Thursday and when he was all sad telling me about their break up I was going to say "You deserve better" And then I was going to kiss him.

Don't look at me that way. I didn't want to kiss him and definitely wasn't looking forward for it…I was just doing what I had to, or else I wouldn't have a shocking end for my project and if I wanted it to be a BAMF movie I needed to a shocking end.

Speaking of the project and those stuffs. I almost had a heart attack that Tuesday when I recalled that I got months and months of footage from all the betches and that I couldn't show the people's faces or else I could get my ass in trouble so…Though I was pretty bored and the last thing I did want was to work on editing the videos, I had no choice.

I sat with my laptop that night and started checking video after video and censoring the faces of the people who could get me in trouble. It was especially strenuous with Hip because of the lots of sex he got, more than one time I had to censor a butt along with a face, stupid Hip and his stupid mojo that made him irresistible.

Jim and Jack, Jim and Jack blah blah blah, something about soccer, boring, boring, boring, boring.

The amusement park! Great! Finally something fun to watch. I leaned closer to the laptop and smile staring at the lights and the laugh of the people in there, it was so beautiful! I understood now why it was Kyle's favorite place in the world. How everything blended…And the air…I almost felt like living everything back again.

I skipped some parts and went straight to the moment we were in the booth at the top of the city staring the night sky and I was telling him why I decided to study cinematography, how passionate my voice sounded.

Ok enough crap. I closed the video and went to the next, the pizza prank…It was a funny day how hard I worked on fooling Kyle and how…Upset he looked after Caroline almost kicked his butt out of the store, but then I saved the day we started giving pizzas to everyone.

I couldn't help feeling so proud of how awesome that video looked, my hand knocking doors… And I delivering the pizzas while Kyle kept coming back to the car to bring more.

Missy winked at me when I gave her hers and…What the fuck she was doing in Brandon's bedroom? Bah! I couldn't believe she was friend with, he was an idiot after all.

Wait a second… I frowned staring at the screen.

I looked up and found Derek snoring loudly as usual and then went back to the video. This guy…Well boy, because he looked more like a boy, he was in bottom of the room along with the rest of the Coders and Missy…I didn't know why but…

I closed the video and quickly navigated throw my files until I found the amusement park again.

I forwarded quickly and then stopped in the Ferris wheel and there! A booth on top of us, in the corner of the screen almost unnoticeable…The same boy, the coder's living wallpaper, which was his name? How weird…I mean, what a coin…I came backwards.

The cliffhanger, top spin, the tornado, fireball, free-fall, the hurricane, the UFO and the zipper and the rollercoaster. He went to all of them as the same time that…

My heart gave a lurch, this was insane but…

In the pizza place the day of fake books covers, in the soccer game before the Judas Game. The bowling, the party, the screen writing course…He was everywhere!

Oh my god! Oh crap! What the…? What the hell was going on? Who was this kid and what he… What was his name anyway? I think it was Brian or something I couldn't recall.

I sucked a breath and tried to calm down my nerves. It was so freaking twisted! I needed to know was going on here and the best option was to find him online.

What did I know about him so far? He was a coder, his room was just a couple of doors away, he followed me everywhere, he was scaring the shit out of me I wanted to kick his ass.

I got into Facebook and looked for Brandon, of course we weren't friends but…I still could see his friends and after almost throwing a pillow to Derek for discovering he was friend with that ass I found the boy…Smith Jacobs. Smith? That's a last name not a name! His profile was blocked too so I couldn't see anything from him but argh….

What the fuck was wrong with that midget? Who in the hell he thought he was to go spying on me? I bet he just wanted to steal ideas from me!

My heart quickened and I my head started throbbing. I couldn't…I couldn't just leave him go, he was taking advantage to no one knew he existed to spy on me.

I coughed! And coughed hard! My throat scrapped and I felt a scratching all around my body, something burned in my guts, I couldn't believe that creep has been following me all this time and I didn't notice!

I came out of bed and ran to the door. My heart slammed against my chest so violently that I could swear anyone in the art's dorms could be able to hear it beat.

I knocked his door… Loudly, frantically and furiously.

I heard a screech of fear and surprise and then a thud as if someone just fell from a bed.

There were some steps and then he opened the door.

He was short…Just inches taller than me. He got brown short hair, dark eyes, pale skin and scrawny body, his nose was leaking. What a disgusting little shit.

"Stiles!" He said shocked.

"Hello Brian" I replied setting his jaw.

He stepped back as if he intended to look for someone, there was anyone else there, actually the other bed of his room…looked like it hadn't been used in ages, which meant he didn't have a roommate. Better, the perfect crime just in case I decided to poor an end to his pathetic existence.

"My…My name is not Brian" He giggled.

"Smith isn't a name, so from now on you are Brian, understood?" I whispered with a threatening voice.

"Loo…Look I don't know what…" His voice was shaking like a mouse at bay.

"I know what you're doing and you better stop or you're going to regret it"

He sucked a breath and looked around as if trying to find a way to hide in the shadows. "I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't do anything"

"It was Brandon who told you to follow me? He wants to know in what I am working now doesn't he?"

"Stiles I promise you that I…"

"Don't play the fool with me. Here is how we do the things in Cinematography, I shoot a kick ass movie, I get the highest grades, all the teachers kiss my ass and Brandon and all you losers die of terminal jealousnism, so you better stop this with this crap of following me because you not in a million years you're going to be better than I and if you don't stop…"

I made a dramatic pause to laugh loudly. "I'm gonna call the police and get a restraining order" Muttered then smirking.

He fell on his butt terrorized. "You're crazy" He accused with his eyes out of his orbits and his bottom lip wobbling.

"You're warned" I finished and closed the door to get back into my dorm. I know I was a bit harsh on Smithy because it was all Brandon's idea, that pathetic loser didn't know how the get me and decided to use the perfect scapegoat to spy on me. He knew no one acknowledged this boy's existence and used in advantage.

It didn't matter though. Presentation day was just two weeks away and I couldn't way to see how Brandon and rest of the coder's faces exploded when once more Stiles Stilinski showed them who the boss was.

….

You know what's funny? While things were getting more twisted but a little better in my life…For Jim were just complicating more and more.

At first it was all games and fun. In their second day of running like bastards they achieved one hundred and seventy laps. At that rate they would reach the thousand by the end of the next week, but things weren't that easy though.

It was Wednesday afternoon when it all started. Jim was getting in the playing field feeling like crap for how much they have been running the previous weeks. His legs were killing him. The good news is that he looked so skinny now that he could make an advertisement for a bulimia campaign.

"Want a ride to the middle of the field?" Aidan's voice shouted at his back.

Jim craned his neck and found him climbing down of a huge and cool bike in the parking lot.

Jim grinned at him amused.

Aidan was a cocky bastard. His dorm wasn't that far from the campus and plus why did he need a leather jacket to drive to the playing field? Neither Jim nor I could understand other men sometimes.

"New toy uh?" Jim smirked staring at it.

"It's not a toy, is a vehicle, a vagina's bait" Aidan explained making obscene gestures with his hands.

"Damn dude! It's beautiful!" Jim heard Kev's voice at his left and when hi tilted his head he found half of the team standing behind him with their eyes fixed in Aidan's bike.

"What about a new TV? I'm tired of hockey" Jim chuckled.

"It is present from my parents, I couldn't let them down, and I like the burritos you make so you won't get rid of me that easily"

Jim snorted and rolled his eyes. _The burritos you make_ He thought. They weren't that good. Was he…? No, it would be ridiculous.

"I want to give it a try!" Garret said suddenly running at the bike to take a closer look.

"Oh no! Bad idea buddy I'm sorry" Aidan replied taking off his jacket.

"Oh come on! I can ride" Garret protested with puppy eyes.

Aidan arched a brow thoughtful. "Alright but just five minutes" Said throwing his keys to Garret while the others came running after him excited.

"Is your birthday or something? Oh no I forgot to get you something, Oh wait I wouldn't give you anything anyway" Jim laughed.

Aidan rolled his eyes. "No, they are just happy to realize that I'm not that dumb and I'm actually getting high grades"

"Wow!" Jim said pretending to be shocked. "You're not dumb! We should throw a party, I could make a sign that reads congratulations you're not dumb"

"Are you in your period or something?" Aidan teased. "Why are you so jealous of a stupid bike? I bet your daddy will give you a slave for your birthday"

"You're an ass" Jim laughed. "How do you know who's my dad?"

"I study economy" Aidan reminded him. "Your dad is the Lady Gaga of business"

"Yeah I bet he likes to wear raw meat for work"

"So…Are you going to take the company?"

What? Him too? "No…I don't need his charity"

"Well if you don't want it could you talk to him to give it to me?"

Jim chuckled. "Yeah it would be something like, dad please could you throw all your work through the toilet?" Jim laughed hard.

Aidan glared at him for a minute and then cracked in laughs too.

Jim hadn't notice before but…He used to have a good time with Aidan, maybe he should get a bike too and play with him to fast and furious.

"Hey! What's going on?" Jack's voice said out of nowhere and a chill ran down Jim's spine.

He stood as straight as a rule and craned his neck toward the captain. "Um…Nothing we're just watching the guys try Aidan's new toy" Jim explained.

"And what were you laughing about?"

"Nothing just something stupid James was saying"

"If it is stupid why you don't tell me then?" Jack asked with a smile though it was kind of harsh of him.

"Just stuffs about my dad nothing with much importance" Jim was saying when he noticed that Jack was leaning his head to the side staring at the parking lot.

"What is Garret doing?"

"He's just trying my bike as we told…"

"No! Are you crazy?" Jack shouted openmouthed. "Garret come here!" He called aloud.

All the guys craned their necks toward Jack.

"What's wrong Jacky? He couldn't even turn it on" Jim said staring at him.

"That's a dangerous vehicle James, it's not a toy"

"Oh come on it's not a big…"

"Hey what did I miss?" Kyle said coming out of nowhere accompanied by the coach.

"What's all this?" The man said with his usual Hitler voice.

"Aidan got a bike" Jack said drily. "And he's giving it to the guys to ride it as if it was a toy"

Hey! That wasn't all truth, actually…He said not to Garret at the beginning.

"You wanna die boy?" The coach said with calm staring at Aidan.

"Oh come on coach it's just…"

"Its okay" The man assured. "I was young too, just make sure to not break a leg when you fall from that thing"

Aidan sniggered and nodded. "Sir yes sir"

"And keep the keys out of Garret and Paul's hands"

And that was it. The coach turned on his heels and walked off to the middle of the field while he blew his whistle.

Jim followed the rest of the guys to start running when he heard a grunt at his back.

"Are you okay Jacky?" He frowned.

"Didn't you see? The coach just let him go!"

"Oh come on! Ain't like he's going to ask Aidan to return it, it isn't his business what he rides and what he doesn't"

"He gave Garret the keys! He could have been seriously injured!"

"It was his dorm's keys Jack" Jim said with frustration. "It's not a big deal"

Jack's face reddened and aw he looked so cute with those big and round cheeks flushed with anger.

Jim blinked and then scoffed. "Come one! We got to run remember?" He said putting a hand on Jack's shoulder but the captain let go.

"Why you do back him up so much?" Jack demanded.

"I'm not backing him up Jacky I just think it is not my business what he does or he doesn't"

"Well it is my business if he puts my team on danger" Jack replied angrily.

"He is not putting anyone on danger, no one is climbing on it and if they want to then you can't…"

"You won't climb in that bike" Jack sentenced.

"I have a car why…?"

"Promise me you won't climb on that thing"

Why he was acting like an asshole all suddenly? He couldn't tell Jim what he could or couldn't do. Actually now that he thought about it, the bike looked kind of interesting…Maybe…Oh alright! He liked possessive Jack who was he kidding? That…I-care-about-you-very-much-and-I-don't-want-to-see-you-hurt look was so stunning. Oh god! This two were so sweet that they would give me diabetes. Do you have a bag? I think I'm gonna puke, Jim was ruining everything and the worst part of all this is that I didn't know anything about it.

"Okay I promise" Jim replied gritting his teeth.

Jack sighed and they both started running around the field, with some luck they could reach the four hundred and fifty that day. Well Jim hoped so but Jack didn't look very into it. Actually he couldn't hear it but he could he swear he was ranting as he ran with his balled hands. Was…Was his imagination or Jack didn't like Aidan much?

….

While Jim prepared to get casted in the Maze Runner movie I got everything ready for Kyle and Kristie's talk.

It was finals week, the air was thick and every spot in the campus was packed with gigs that tried to learn everything they should have learned in whole year in just a couple of hours.

It was then when they addressed me. I was a little sleepy for working on editing the videos that all I wanted was a full night rest and wished that Kyle and Kristie could delay their fight for another day but I had no choice, it had to be that night.

"Here you are" Brandon's voice said at my back when I was leaving the school grounds to head to Kyle's place.

"What do you want loser?" I said with despise when I tilted my head and found them. Oh Brandon, Mr. I want to be as cool as Stiles. He was very much taller than me, with thick glasses and short mouth. His skin was brown and his hair curly and he always wore that haughty face as if he was the best of our class but of course…I knew better.

Behind him were his minions. Craig, short legs bad jokes, not much to say. Tara, feminist, vegan, kind of cool if she wasn't friends with those dorks. Clarence, obsessed with anime and Japanese stuffs. Leonardo, Mexican, a little hot but fan of the worst of Hollywood and finally. My dear friend Brian –Smith- hiding behind them with a terrified face.

"Smith told us what you did to him" Tara said angrily.

I arched a brow. "Great" Replied bored. "Bye"

I kept walking but Brandon came and made me turn taking me by the arm and I quickly yanked it back. "What?" I squinted at him.

"I'm warning you Stiles, don't mess with us"

I scoffed. "Is that supposed to be a TV's cliché dead threat?"

They glared at me.

"Let me get this clear losers, I don't know what the hell you were thinking when you sent that elf to follow me but you better chill, sit and watch me mop the floor with you or I'm going to present charges for stalking me"

Brandon threw me a poisoned look.

I laughed. "It's flattering you know? How much obsessed you guys are with me, but it isn't sane, you should talk someone about it. Now let's forget about this unless you want that one of your _movies_ gets viral on internet"

"If you ever do anything to Smith…"

"Look, I'm kinda busy right now so please sent a hate mail and save me the disgust of see your faces"

Said so and left them there. What a bunch of idiots! I was still a little freaked though, I mean, they were insane! They actually were so desperate to find out what I was up to that they sent that freak to follow me everywhere.

I kept walking watching the sunset while I crossed the street and when I got the avenue I found Cass and Liam coming straight to me.

"Stiles!" Cass said with shining eyes.

"Hey! What's going on?" I replied with a grin while I checked my watch. It was Kyle's break time which meant that Kristie was probably with him already. I better hurried.

"We got great news sweetie" Liam said with a big smile with his glistening lips.

I chewed my bottom lip and then something clicked in my mind…I could…I could use their help.

"Tell me later…I need your help" I said resuming my walk toward the pizza place.

They followed me without saying a word while I took the curve and instead of getting in by the front door I went to the ally in the back. I could swear I saw a backdoor one of the nights Allison and I went to hang out with Kyle and Kirstie and…Yeah! It was there! If my calculation was right it took straight to the stairs that led to Kyle's loft.

"Cass open the door" I said hastily.

He frowned. "What? Are you crazy? This is private property I could…"

"Oh come on! I know Jim taught you guys how to do it"

"What if…?"

"Come on! It's really important I get inside before is too late"

He sighed. "Alright" And said saw drew out his wallet from his back pocket and in a second voila, the door was open.

Jim was right, credit cards solved all kind of problems.

"Let's go" I said trembling with excitement as we hauled ourselves in and closed the door at our backs softly to start climbing the stairs.

This was it.

….

"What's that?" Jim asked when he found Jack handling the guys some brochures.

"Hey" Jack said with a grin.

Jim felt his guts squirm as he slightly brushed and looked away.

"I having a presentation" Jack explained embarrassed.

"A presentation?" Jim frowned.

"Yeah, Paige called me yesterday. She said that everyone was moved by my voice in the center the other day and though I said I wasn't a good singer she insisted that I should sing in an event they are throwing next week"

Jim smiled. "Really? That's awesome!"

"It is" Jack nodded. "It's to get funds to help Emily's family. She's having a surgery and that's why she was so sad and scared the other day. I'm gonna do my best to help"

"You're going to do a great and I bet you'll rise a lot of money"

"It's not just me though, there are some local bands and I even heard that there will be a John Mayer's impersonator, you have to come. It will be in the Coffee store in Maddison Street near the square"

Jim grinned. "Of course I'll be there to support you" Oh Jim! You were acting like a total loser! If you could only see yourself drooling over the altar boy of the town.

"Where the hell is Kyle?!" The coach bellowed furious.

Everyone craned their necks toward the man frightened.

Jim and Jack hurried to get in the track before he started shouting at them too.

Jim didn't know what happened to Kyle, he rarely missed a training but he could bet it had something to do with me.

_If I get a thousand more because of you Stily…_

"Jack!" The coach called aloud when Jim and him just started jogging.

They both stopped instantly and looked at him.

"Come here!" The man ordered.

"Why? Does this mean…?"

"Get your ass here and do some training Sunset Valley is almost here and I ran out of patience"

Jim sighed.

"But coach…I" Jack started with shaky voice. "I have to…"

"Don't play the fool with me boy, I'm tired of all of you boys attitude, you think this is a game? You think you can come and go whenever you want? Now come here and do as I command or you're out of the team!"

He blew his whistle and Jim pushed Jack toward the playing field to encourage him. He had to go, what he did for Jim was nice and everything but…He had to leave Jim alone now. It was funny but suddenly…It felt like, everyone was conspiring to keep them away.

"I'm tired of all of you" The man ranted some more and Jim kept running to not do something he might regret later.

….

"What are we doing here?" Liam asked and I made him signs to shut up.

"Speak low" I whispered as we finished climbing the stairs and stopped outside Kyle's door.

"I don't care!" Kyle's voice shouted from the other side. "I should have known that this party would turn out in one of your tricks"

"That's not truth!" Kristie roared back. "I don't know who invited all those people! It would be just Jack and his friends!"

There was a short pause. Cass, Liam and I exchanged looks. They seemed a little scared.

"I can't believe that I thought you would change, you promised me but it was all lies as usual"

"I'm trying but you're not helping" Kristie said a little calmer.

"You're not trying hard enough" Kyle accused.

"Why you have to act like crazy? It was just a party! And I already told you that I didn't plan it, some of your stupid friends did that just to bother me. My house got upside down! Do you really think that I would let them do that? My mom lived there! She died there! I wouldn't do something that awful" She shrieked.

Another silence.

"So you're playing the victim now" Kyle scoffed.

I kneeled and peeked through the key hole. They were standing before the couch. Kristie's eyes were sore, which meant that I got late and they had been arguing for at least half an hour already.

"I'm a victim of your so called team mates" She said with her bottom lip wobbling as tears ran down her eyes. "But they won't get away with this they're going to pay for what they have…"

"You're not doing anything! You deserve it for what did you do in the woods"

"It was just a prank Kyle! I was going to give them their clothes back!"

"That's the problem Kristie! Everything is a game for you, your family, your friends…." He made a pause and swallowed. "Us"

"That's not fair! You have no right to…"

"Don't I? Oh I'm sorry" He let out a laugh and angry laugh. "Did you have to see pictures of me dancing half naked with hot girls? Are you the laughingstock of the school because everyone is saying that you cheated on me even with a dog?"

"What if they say so? I don't care! People will always say shit about me and I learned a long time ago to not give a crap about it"

"But I do care! Because it's me who everyone is laughing about!"

"You shouldn't care! You should trust me, but you don't do it"

"How can you ask me to trust you when everyone is saying that you slept with half of the party?" Kyle screamed out of his mind.

"I didn't sleep with anyone!" She cried.

"Don't you?" Kyle grunted sauntering around the coach.

Kristie sat covering her eyes with her hands.

"I didn't do it I swear…"

"Stily we should go…" Cass whispered in my ear.

I ignored him. "Give me your phone" I ordered looking at Liam.

"Why?" He frowned.

"Just give it to me"

Liam rolled his eyes and handled me his phone while I tucked mine out of my pockets and fumbled around the contacts until I found Kristie's number.

I copied the number and started texting from Liam's cellphone, if I was lucky Kyle would read the messages.

"Hi what's up? I miss you"

I came up to see them again through the key hole.

"That's the problem you should have to…"

A phone beeped inside the room.

They ignored it. Shit.

"You should have not to swear to me anything, I should be able to trust you, but that's the problem I…"

I went down. "I can't stop thinking about you"

Another beep.

"Babe…I'm really sorry, it was all a misunderstanding" She stood. "Look at me please"

Kyle hesitated.

"Look at me in the eyes" She begged.

Kyle looked up and they meet their eyes.

I came down again. "What's going on? Do you regret what happened between us?"

Another beep ladies and gentlemen.

"Fuck! Who the hell is texting you? Your new boyfriend?!" Kyle snarled like a wild animal.

Kristie quickly shoved her hand in her purse and without even staring at the screen she did what looked like shutting it down.

Damn it! There went my plan.

"Look at me Kyle"

He did it.

"I love you…" She whispered soft and meaningfully.

"Kristie…"

"I love you Kyle. I promise you that there isn't anyone else, I just wanted to do something nice for Jack and you're right I shouldn't have let that people in my house in the first place and I could have behaved a little better" She muttered as the tears slipped down.

Kyle sighed and looked at her with sadness.

Damn! Don't! Just break up! Break up! Come on! I had no time! I had to finish my project!

"There won't be more parties, or pranks, or crazy stuffs I promise"

Kyle blinked. "Kristie I don't think…"

"I promise, I love you Kyle, I love you so much and I don't want to lose you, I know that I can be hard sometimes and I promise I'll change, but you need to promise that you'll try to trust in me at least a little" She slurred between short breaths.

Kyle nodded. "I promise" He leaned and kissed her gently in the cheek as he started cleaning her tears with his thumb.

No! No! No! No! No! No! Fuck!

Damn it! I was so close! I could have done it! But she had to turn off her phone! Thank you very much Kristie.

"I have to go. My aunt won't be out of the house too long and I don't want more problems"

"It's okay" Kyle replied swallowing and stroking her hair. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I promise I won't do it again"

Kristie smiled and then grabbed her stuffs.

Shit! She was coming over!

I put the phones in my pockets and made signs to the guys to follow me. We almost fell from the stairs and reached the door in record time.

We ran out of the Alley and turn to the left to not pass from the front door of the pizzeria. I had to be careful.

My breathing was hitched. I'm not sure if because of the dashing or the anger but I thought I was having an asthma attack. Then I recalled that I had no asthma and calmed down.

I opened the door of my room and instinctively looked at Derek's bed. He wasn't there which was good because…

I ran to my side of the door and started kicking the leg of my desk frantically. I was so angry! So…Why? I was so close! Now they were more than better! They looked at each other in a stupid way and stuffs! I wanted to kick someone's ass so badly. Where was Brandon when you needed him?

"Calm down Sweetie or you'll have a heart attack" Liam said softly.

I didn't listen to him, actually it just made me madder and now was kicking harder.

"Stily! Calm down!" Cass said concerned as he surrounded me with his broad arms from the back and lifted me.

I swum my arms and legs in the air for a couple of minutes until I realized how stupid I must have looked.

I sucked a breath and Cass gently released me on my bed.

My hands were trembling, my mouth was dry and my mind clouded.

"I have…I don't know…" I started looking away confused and frustrated. I needed to find a solution. There had to be another way or an idea that could… "I'll tell him I'm gay tomorrow"

"Stily…" Cass was saying.

"That's it, maybe if I said it to him everything will change and…"

"Stily! Let it go! He doesn't love you" Liam said with sadness.

My heart skipped a beat and I glared at him. "Who cares? I don't like him! I hate him! I was so close to…"

"Are you sure you don't have feelings for him?" Cass asked sternly.

My head started throbbing, this again? Really? "Guys! I don't like him! I hate him! Did you see the way he talked to her? She didn't deserve that!"

"Poor girl" Liam agreed.

"They had to break up, so he would ran to weep to my arms and she could find a really guy who loves her no matter what"

"That's none of your business Stiles you can't just go and pair people or make them break up, you're not cupid" Cass chastised.

"Save the sermon. I'm not in the mood" I replied sharply.

"Look at me sweetie" Liam started taking me by the shoulders. "I know this is very important to you and I get that you're hurt for everything that happened with Isaac and the things that Kyle said but you have to calm down, because no one has ever made a good choice when they are mad" He advised kindly.

I breathed deeply. He was right. I was acting like a mental patient. I needed to calm down. I needed to forget about them and have some sleep and the next day I would see things more clear and make a choice I wouldn't regret later.

"You're feeling better?" He said stroking my cheek like my mom used when I was a kid.

I smiled.

"Yeah" I nodded forcing a smirk and then I recalled they got came to see me for a reason. "You go news!" I reminded them with excitement. "Please tell me that the twins are treating you like shit, I need something"

Cass frowned. "I'm sorry Stily is not that"

I chugged with disappointment.

"It's more personal news" Liam explained.

I leaned expectantly. "Many people shot videos of the party and apparently many liked my mixes because I won't stop getting mails offering me jobs and inviting me to do some shows in other cities" Cass said as his grin grew with every word he said.

Oh my god! That was…Amazing! "Cass! I'm so proud of you! Congratulations!"

"It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you" He muttered blushing a little.

Oh he was so cute! I couldn't believe he actually said that! Considering how crappy the party was and the side effects of my idea I finally found a reason to feel proud of what I did.

"And more news" Liam teased. "There is a new gay club opening in eight days and he'll be the Dj that night!"

"Really?" I gaped. Oh my god! That was huge! Cass was a hit! One of my friends was going to be famous!

"And there will be a drag queen's beauty competition" Cass muttered. "And guess who is going to win that crown!"

I leaned head to side looking at Cass confused. "How are you going to be on the stage and compete…?"

"He's talking about me silly" Liam said blushing as he chewed his bottom lip.

"Oh! I'm sorry I just…" I smiled speechless. "Really? Are you going to do it?"

Liam nodded letting out a short giggle.

"Oh my god! It is so exciting! I can't wait to see you go drag!" I stood and hugged him so hard that I might have broken one of his ribs.

Cass hugged us too and now Liam and I were being carried by his broad arms while we chuckled and floundered like dumbs.

Those news came in the right time! I thought I was going to have one of those awful sad nights that used to be better when I sneaked in Derek's bed, but since Derek didn't want to do anything with me it would be so depressing to even think about it.

My phone buzzed in my pants.

I tugged it out. It was probably Jim to tell me to go to his loft to watch the new videos, but I wasn't in the mood. I still needed to figure out what I was going to do with Kyle now that he wouldn't let Kristie go. Why he got back with her if he obviously didn't love her? You could tell by the way he yelled at her, he was an asshole. I felt pity for Kristie and such amount of guilt too, because…I was the reason of their fighting, even when they didn't know. I needed to make it up to her somehow.

I unlocked my phone and…Weird. I didn't get any new message, but I could swear…

I shoved my hand in my other pocket. I forgot I had Liam's phone too. The screen was on when I handle it to him and it buzzed again. He was about to get it when I saw the number in the notification bar.

"Why are you texting me from another number?"

I…Frowned and read the text that came after.

"Look, what happened was a mistake. I was really drunk and I don't know what I was doing. I shouldn't have got in the bathroom with you and I'm sorry. I'll go to your work tomorrow and we will talk about this okay? But stop texting me. I feel really bad already"

That bitch! I couldn't believe it! She was cheating on Kyle! She was cheating on Kyle!

….

Jim didn't run much that day. He just did twenty laps. He couldn't concentrate because he wouldn't stop thinking about the way the coach yelled at Jack. Who thought that bastard that he was? Jack was the nicest person in the world how he could such an asshole and treat him like that? The worst of all is that Jim felt responsible.

Jack wouldn't have got in trouble with the coach if he wouldn't have lied for him. Damn! Guilt was an awful feeling.

"That's all! You can go now!" The man shouted and the guys finished their exercises and started walking to the locker room.

Jim sighed. Finally that day was over. All he wanted was to go home and forget how he felt.

He went to the locker room to grab his stuffs and found the guys ranting because of the coaches' attitude. He couldn't blame them. That man was out of his mind. Sunset Valley wasn't the big thing. They just wanted to go because they liked the idea of summer and the beach and getting kicked out of clubs all wasted.

He smirked and started unlacing his shoes.

"You didn't run much" Jack pointed out suddenly.

Jim shifted in his seat and looked up. Everyone left already. Wow he still got those lapses, he though they would vanish eventually but…Every time Jack was near or he thought about him he just…Acted like dumb.

"Yeah, I wasn't in the mood for running. I'm sorry for happened"

"Don't be. I'm the one who should apologize for leaving you alone" Jack assured with his infamous smirk.

Jim blushed. "You shouldn't lie because of me, you could end up in hell"

"Hey! Don't talk to me that way rookie! I'm your captain remember?" Jack pretended a grunt with a bossy tune.

Jim chuckled. He was an asshole, a very cute one by the way.

"Now let's go to the field! You still got to train rookie"

Jim scoffed. "What are you talking about? I'm tired and I want to go home"

"Come on James! The coach is just humiliating you and hopes you get rusty by keeping you out of the sessions. We can't let him win, you will show him that you're an important part of the team"

"Jacky please!"

"Enough talk, it's time to work" Jack laughed going to the store and taking a ball to throw it at Jim.

Jim took it moody and stood.

They came out of the locker room right when it was pitch dark already. They went to the middle of the field and started to practice snatching the ball.

"Remember the eye contact" Jack advised.

_I wouldn't_ Jim thought chewing his bottom lip.

"What are you doing?" That annoying voice said at his back.

Jim took a deep breath and turned on his heels to face the coach.

"Coach, I thought you were gone" Jack said a little nervous.

"I forgot something, and I think I asked you a question" The man grunted.

"We…We were just training a little" Jack explained.

"You can't"

"But…"

"It's no training hours, you're tired and you have to go home now Jack"

"It's fine, we're just messing around" Jim tried to explain.

"I think I told you that there wasn't any training until you finished your laps Taylor"

"But… No buts! I'm tired of your attitude of brats! I come here to teach men not kids. You can't be here unsupervised, if you get an injury…"

"No one is going to get hurt, we're just…"

"See? That's just children's talk, you don't know anything about soccer, you need someone to guide you and I won't risk that any of you get a serious injure before the championship, understood?"

Jim and Jack exchanged glances. "Yes coach"

"Now get the hell out of here!" He ordered.

Jim and Jack trudged to the locker room and grabbed their stuffs again.

When they came out the man was awaiting for them to leave.

As they walked to the parking lot all the lights went out which meant that the man turned them off. He was just an asshole.

Jack sniggered. "I thought he was going to kick us out of the team"

"Don't laugh, you could get in trouble" Jim chastised. This wasn't right! Jack was acting too reckless lately, it felt like he didn't matter anymore about lying or getting in trouble.

"Relax Jimmy nothing happened"

Jim rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe the table turned. He was concerned about upsetting the coach and Jack was making fun of it. How twisted!

"So…Are you coming to the gig?" Jack asked casually as they got in the parking lot and climbing to Jim's car.

"Yeah sure, I wouldn't missed"

Jack smiled. "Great! There will be a bazaar too, you hadn't live until you tasted Beverly's cupcakes they are…"

Jim crested his brow and his stomach plunged down.

Jack blinked. "Oh! I forgot to tell you! You were right James! I went to talk to her and she apologized and now we're back together and we're nearer than ever I see it all clear now. I love her, I love her James"

Jim wasn't sure how many times he said he loved her. He got missed in the fifth. He wanted to puke, he wanted to run he wanted to… Why? Why? He thought he had done things right! But now Jack was back with Beverly and happier than ever. Why this had to happen?

"You're the best friend anyone could have" Jack said so meaningfully and it was then that he got that he hadn't see Jack that happy before.

He leaned gently and took Jim in his arms pressing his chest against his. "I don't know what I would do without you"

After hearing those words Jim got it. He would do anything without Jim, because Jim was dispensable in his life, not like Beverly. That week Jim learned something, the world, the universe or maybe God was conspiring to keep them apart. Mrs. Whitmore, Beverly and now the coach were doing anything possible to make understand Jim that he couldn't spend time with Jacky because he wasn't his Jacky he was Beverly's and now that he thought about it, it all made sense. Jack was telling lies, being rude at his team mates and disrespectful with his superiors, that wasn't Jack. That was Jim. He was dragging him to his shit. And for what? He said it himself he loved Beverly.

Jack wasn't gay, it didn't matter what the betches said. They didn't know him. Jim couldn't believe he was so stupid to think that… He saw everything clear now, and he understood that before getting his heart broken it was better to stay away from Jack. For real this time.

….

I couldn't sleep that night. I was so nervous, excited and angry. Oh god! I was so angry! I couldn't believe that Kristie was cheating on Kyle! And now she felt guilty! My ass! She was a bitch and I was going to make sure that Kyle knew the truth.

After getting those disturbing texts I craned my neck toward Liam.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" He asked biting his glistening bottom lip.

"I need your truck"

"What for?" He squinted.

"I have to take Kyle to this guy's work tomorrow and unmask that slut"

Liam rolled his eyes. "Sweetie I don't think it would be a good idea, you could get in trouble if they discover that if was you who sent the messages"

"They won't find out, I tell him we will hang out, he is free tomorrow so there is no problem"

"And how are you going to know where she is going? You can't ask her or she might suspect and you can't tell her to go somewhere else because the real guy won't know it"

Damn he was right, I would have to sleep in his truck outside her aunt's home and wait for her to come out.

"You could use the where is my phone app" Cass suggested.

Yeah! That was it! He was right! Oh my god I loved him!

"Um…There is problem" Liam started. "To use that app we need to know her mail and her password"

"I have her mail, she always sends me links to YouTube videos of her favorite bands" I said with a grin.

"And what about the password?" Liam arched a brow.

Crap! I…Wait…"You! You're a hacker! You can't get her password!"

"Oh no! I'm not going to do that! It's illegal and I'm not a hacker, I just know a thing or two"

"Come on! You promised you would spy on Kyle and you didn't do it"

He sighed. "It's complicated sweetie, even if I do it, it could take weeks to get her password"

What? Damn! I couldn't wait weeks, I needed to know where she was going to be the next day.

"Though…" He said thoughtfully.

"Though what?" I hastily asked.

"There is way but I don't promise it will work"

"Tell me" I begged him. "Many people use a master password so it's easy make a phishing. We just need to send her a mail telling her she won something and ask her to register in our site and then…"

"Let's do it!"

"It won't work, people doesn't fall for those stuffs anymore" He affirmed.

"Let's make her fall" I said determinate. I called Tim and I asked him through the phone to design a realistic banner inviting everyone to the next gig of the Alexs aka her favorite band and that also said that it gave the chance to win two tickets by registering in their page.

When it was done I sent her a mail with the design and the fake link to the phishing website that he made for us and wrote that a friend sent it to me and that I recalled that it was her favorite band and she definitely had to participate.

One hour later we got the mail and surprise! She used a master password.

At noon of the next day Liam appeared with his truck to tell me that she was moving already. Shit! I thought she would do it in the night! But it made sense though, she probably was planning to go out with Kyle later.

I had to be fast.

I ran to the theater at light speed or as fast as my short legs let me and found him just coming out of it.

"Kyle!" I called aloud happily.

"Stily!" He replied with a grin. "What are you doing here?"

"We're going out" I snickered.

"What? Are you crazy? I still got classes"

I rolled my eyes. "Come on! It's the final weeks, no one goes to class in the finals weeks not even the professor unless they have a final"

"I don't know... I…"

"Oh come on! Ain't like someone is going to call your parents and say you're ditching" I chuckled reminding the time he said that to me.

He laughed and came with me.

"Wow! Whose is this piece of trash?" Kyle laughed.

"I stole it! You like it?" I laughed.

"You did what?" He said shocked.

"I'm kidding, is one of my friend's"

He sighed. "Alright, were are we going?" He arched a brow.

"I'm not sure yet" I explained turning on the engine and adjusting my earbud.

"Alright she is in Elm Street right now" Liam's voice said through the speaker hidden below my hair. He was in my dorm with a laptop monitoring my position and Kristie's at the same time.

"Wait let me call Kristie so all can…"

"Oh! You fixed things up?" I asked casually.

"Yeah! It was all a misunderstanding" He said cheerful as I started driving away from the campus.

"That's great man! I knew you would sort things out, you're the hottest couple of all"

He snorted. "I can't believe I actually thought she was cheating on me"

_If you knew._ "Yeah! I can't believe you convinced me to spy on her, I'm glad I didn't do it"

"Turn to your left" Liam said at my ear.

I did as he bid.

"Yeah I was definitely crazy man. I sorry for asking you that. Everything is fine now, I understand that I love her. I really do, actually I can't wait for her dad to come back so I can ask her if she wants to move in with me"

Really? Him too? Damn what was going on with people lately?

"Take the curve at your right"

"Wow that's a big move! I'm happy for you"

"Take the curve of your right"

"I'm on it!" I grunted.

Kyle frowned. "What?"

Shit!

"Um… Nothing, I think I'm really tired, got a very hard final early this morning"

"She stopped! I repeat she stopped" Liam announced.

"Where?"

"Where what?" Asked Kyle.

"Two streets straight a mile away from you"

I got my head out of the window. Stupid semaphore made us stop.

"Sorry what did you say?" I craned my neck toward Kyle.

"You're the one who said something, you said just where?"

Damn it! "Did I?" I chuckled.

"Are you alright?" He asked with concerned in his voice.

Green light! Green light!

I stepped on the gas and took a deep breath. With every feet I felt how my heart beat harder and harder. She had no scape now. I finally did it!

"Stop! Stop! It's in the building at your left" Liam said quickly.

I stopped suddenly and almost provoked an accident and Kyle started yelling at me hysterically but I didn't pay attention.

I parked the truck outside the building that looked pretty luxurious from outside.

"Here?" Kyle frowned.

"What's wrong?" I said confused as we climbed down of the car.

"Um…Nothing, it's just look very expensive. I thought we would go to a bar or something like it"

"Oh come on! You stingy ass I'll pay" I laughed pushing him in as fast as I could.

We got in. It was as I said before a very but very luxurious restaurant. With carpeted floors, chandeliers, little tables packed with presumptuous people that drank expensive wines which names they probably didn't know how to spell.

I looked around desperate.

Some people fixed their eyes on us. They were all dressed as movie starts like us…Well, they probably thought we were beggars or something. Fuck them!

Shit were was Kristie? There was so much people! Seriously, how many rich families could be in the town? It was frustrating. Maybe we should have split, but of course Kyle didn't know what we were looking.

"Look there is an empty table there" He said pointing at the left.

Great! Now how I was going to look for Kristie if I sat in a stupid table?

_Come one! Come one! _I thought. If only Liam knew that I was lost he could tell me where to find her. Maybe I could talk in code and he would understand that…

I saw a long brown hair of a girl at my right. My heart quickened and I took Kyle by the arm. "Come here! I think I saw another empty table" I said without detaching my eyes from her. She was sitting with a really but really hot guy. That bitch! Kyle was going to freak out when…

It wasn't her! Shit! I really thought that…

"What's this? A surprise double date?" Kyle said cheerful and confused.

I frowned and turned on my heels not getting what he meant.

Kristie and Allison stared at us very confused and I just…What the…?

For the people who is leaving comments, thanks for reading the story. Please create an account so I can answer your questions when you leave your next review.


	13. Chapter 13

BENDING THE KNEE

"What…What are you doing here?" Kristie asked uneasy as she fidgeted with her fingers absently.

I acted quickly before giving them chance to connect the dots.

"Hey honey!" I said happily as I approached them and slid my tongue inside Allison's mouth to kiss her briefly.

She opened her eyes wide and squatted for a minute but I took her by the waist in a gallantly and possessive way.

"Kyle and I just came out of our exams and thought about coming to say hi" I lied as she kept staring at me as if I was losing my mind.

Kyle snorted as he joined us. "It's weird, I think this is the first time we ever see you guys kissing"

I exchanged a complicity look Allison's shocked one and we both shook our heads. "No, we kiss all the time" Said at once.

I craned my neck toward Kristie with a smirk on my lips smeared with lipstick. "Right Kristie? I'm sure you have seen us kissing all the time"

She chewed her bottom lip and blinked twice as if she just was smacked in the head by a hammer, a second she was a scared little girl and…In the next she was the sassy bitch we all knew. "No!" She points out chuckling and then giving Kyle a long kiss. "You guys never kissed before in front of us"

Now she squinted at Allison, I know what she was thinking. She thought Allison kissed me to prove her that whatever happened between them was a mistake, and she also thought that they both could play the same game.

What was all that? Didn't she just say the night before that she loved Kyle and that what happened was all a mistake?

"You're wrong" I laughed. "We kiss every time, everywhere, we just can't get enough of each other, right babe?"

I leaned to kiss her again but Allison gave me her cheek instead and pretended a giggle. "Stiles, I'm working" She muttered.

"I'm sorry, sometimes I just can't hold myself"

Tilted my head and stared at Kyle and Kristie with a dreamful stare. "Hadn't it happen to you?"

"All the time" Kyle agreed nodding.

"I'm sorry guys but I have to work, I can't have visitors, my boss is going to kill me" Allison added quickly.

"You heard her guys" Kristie hurried to say looking at both ways thoughtfully. "I think we should go"

"I can wait for you" I affirmed. "It's almost time for you break isn't it?"

Allison nodded.

"Alright, we will have a table and we will wait for you so we can all have lunch together"

Allison nodded staring at me very, very confused and then walking away pushing a cart filled with plates.

We waited thirty minutes for Allison. When her break started we asked baked cannelloni and a glass of wine to shut the mouth of the snobs that looked at us as if we were beggars.

Lunch was kind of awkward. Well, not for me. While Kristie and Allison kept their eyes in their plates and just talked to reply when we spoke directly to any of them, I had to time of my life. Don't get me wrong, I was really mad at both of them, for cheating and lying, I mean great I got a girlfriend and she cheated on me with another girl? See? Those kind of things only happen to me, well, no me but Derek of course.

I felt bad for Derek, he thought Allison loved him and they were planning on moving together and everything, if he only knew all the truth.

Kyle and I wouldn't stop talking and playing jests and embarrassing our girls acting like dorks and…Oh god it was great! I just couldn't stop laughing, it almost felt like he knew and understood my thoughts and was following my lead but no, he was just dumb and liked that, because without noticing for the first time in my life I was acting like a real straight guy, I mean, I was kissing my girlfriend in a fancy restaurant dressed like a gangster and cracking in loud laughs of Kyle's bad but damn bad jokes.

When Allison's break was over I paid the bill and we all stood. I kissed her cheek to say goodbye, Kyle did the same and Kristie just smiled and waved at her in a poorly convincible way.

At this point you might be very confused and I can't blame you, but, in my defense I must say that I was pretty confused too. I mean, how's that they developed feelings for each other? I thought they were just friends and all like just really…Really good friends. Oh crap! I've been so dumb, all the signs have been there from the beginning and I just…Didn't notice them.

I know you're expecting that I suddenly yelled at Kristie that she was slut for kissing my girlfriend, if they just did that, but…I had to act wisely, I still wasn't sure of what happened exactly and even though I hated Allison very much for all the crap that have been going on lately I thought I could give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she was going to tell me, maybe she just did that to ruin their relationship and something went wrong, I don't know… I think I was just being optimistic it had been almost a week after the party and she had lots of times to tell me but she didn't.

I had to think carefully my next move, so, for now I was just going to threw the bone to her and hope she caught it and cleared all the situation.

When Kristie climbed down of Liam's truck while I was leaving them outside the pizza store Kyle closed the door and looked at me with a stern look.

I…Arched a brow.

"I know what you did back there" He murmured.

"What?" I chewed my bottom lip easing my breathing a little to not look anxious.

"The lunch, I can't believe you did that for us Stiles" He said with a meaningful and hoarse voice.

"It was just a lunch Kyle, ain't like I was…"

"Yeah but, taking us to a romantic place for surprise just to help us, even when I asked you to spy on Kristie you believed in our relationship and tried to fix things for us"

_Yeah…No. _I giggled. "Is not the big deal Kyle really"

He shook his head slowly. "Why you keep doing this?"

"Doing what?" I frowned and noticed that Kristie stared at us from the store's front door.

"I don't know how to explain it, but, you're always there for me, not matter what, even when I act like crazy I say thinks I might regret, you never let me down and help me even when I don't know I need help"

I saw a small glimmer in his look and gasped. Oh come! Don't tell me you were seriously thinking about crying over me when outside the truck your girl was waiting for you.

"I don't…I don't deserve you Stiles" He snorted with pain in his voice.

Why? Why he was saying all that? It was awkward! Didn't you get it asshole? You were making me feel uncomfortable…Just stop! Stop!

"Don't say that, you're my best friend Kyle, I would do anything for you"

_Or to you. _

He nodded. "You can count on me on anything you need, you know that right?" He added.

"I know" _Yeah right._

"I'll see you later" He said with a smirk as he turned to get out of the car.

My heart…I don't know what happened to that moron but I kind of…I felt bad.

"What are you doing?" He asked when I made him turn and gave him a short and awkward hug.

Wha…What the hell was I doing? Shit! I felt…I felt bad for him! He was so dumb. He really thought I was trying to fix his relationship when actually I was trying to destroy it but…I what really pissed me was the fact that Kristie and Allison pretended that nothing happened, that their secret was safe and that asshole was deeply in love with that cheater and it was my fault.

I had to tell him the truth. It would help me and him at the same time, so…We would both win.

It was time to act responsibly, I was going to give Allison a chance to tell me the things herself, but if she didn't…I was going to tell Kyle the truth once and for all.

….

Jim's day was harder than mine. First of all his nets' final was a killer bitch and for a second he thought he wouldn't be able to solve it at time but ten minutes before its end he found the answer he had been looking the whole day and managed to fix everything at perfect timing.

Most of his school mates decided to go for drinks to celebrate the end of the first week of finals. It was a really hard week and he didn't want to think about the fact that they still two more ahead. This system needed desperately a reform, but in matter of days everything would be over and he could rejoice of being finishing the trimester as the first of his class and enjoy the summer. He had a problem though.

Jack.

Jim thought about it the whole night and actually in part of his classes that day. He knew he needed to forget about Jack before he ended up hurt as it happened with Gabe. He couldn't help feeling like everything I said to him was truth –of course that I was right- It happened always that way, a straight guy said a couple of nice things and the dumb gay boys fell from them. It wasn't fair, he hated Jack for making him love him and he hated himself for being so stupid to fall in his trap and now feel like crap because Jack was back with Beverly and happier than ever.

He needed a plan. He had to find a way to stay out of his way and forget about him, but it wouldn't be easy. Jack wasn't stupid, in his birthday's week and suspected that Jim was avoiding him and if Jim wouldn't have lied too convincingly he would have found the truth eventually. He was smart, if Jim wanted to put an end to whatever happened between them he needed to just to pretend he was mad at Jack, that way Jack would believe that everything was his fault and eventually would grow tired of begin Jim's pardon.

It sounded like a great plan. He had to do that, even when the thought of it killed him. Through the months, without noticing Jim became too used to Jack's company, to the sound of his deep voice, his scent and the warmness of his body, he couldn't put a name to it but he craved for his presence on the nights and in his classes. He thought about him almost twice every ten minutes and every time his phone beeped his heart gave a lurch because subconsciously he hoped it was a text for him, and when it was…He smiled and felt happy and was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

How something so beautiful could be so wrong? Jim knew the truth. There was no place for them in Jack's world and he made the mistake of believing that he could have enough with just spending time with him, he convinced himself that he just spent time with him for the project, but it was something else. It didn't matter anymore though, he couldn't do anything about Jack and his life. He was Christian and Christian were things that couldn't get mixed. He was a good person too, actually the most caring and kind person that Jim had ever met and it was killing Jim see how bit a bit Jackson Whittemore was leaving behind all the things he believed and were important for him just to like him or help him.

Four hundred laps. He couldn't believe he reached that mark, but somehow he managed to do it, it would be encouraging if it wasn't for the fact that he still needed to run another six hundreds. He got two weeks before Sunset Valley and with every day he felt more and more anxious. There were moments when he wanted to give up and leave the team but… He didn't know, maybe the idea of seeing Jack ever again was too hard to bear, even if they weren't friends anymore he fancied the idea of at least watching him with the corner of his eyes in the games and trainings and smirk in his insides, because that dork, that beautiful, kind, lovely dork was everything Jim wanted in his life and the irony in all that was that he was only thing he couldn't have.

"No! Not that way" Someone yelled suddenly.

Jim snapped his head and detached his eyes from the road for a moment.

The guys were playing as usual while the coach watched and Jim kept running for his freedom.

He shook his head and kept jogging.

"Jack! What's going on with you?" Paul's voice said from the middle of the field.

Jim slowed his pace and the clouds of dirt descended bit a bit.

"Garret shoot!"

"Jack! I was free!"

"Enough!" The coach shut them all blowing his whistle.

As soon as the blast faded Paul pushed Jack making him fall on his butt in the grass.

Jim stopped to a halt and felt the urgency to throw himself in top of that asshole.

"Paul!" The coach said in a threatening voice.

"What?" The boy replied edgy. "Didn't you see? He made me fall"

"It was an accident!" Jack yelled angrily.

"Accident?" Paul snorted.

"Enough! I don't want to hear anything else, the championship is almost here and you aren't…" The man was grumbling but Paul wouldn't let it go that easily.

"He is not paying attention, you see it, he sucks more and more every day, in our last game he didn't do anything! If it wasn't for Kyle there wouldn't be Sunset Valley for us"

"I said it was an accident Paul, I'm sorry okay?"

Jim moved slowly toward the field to get a better view, Jack was pretty sweaty, he looked very exhausted, angry and a bit anxious.

"What are you apologizing for? For making me fall or for being a shitty captain?"

"Paul you better shut up right now or I…"

"You're gonna what? Kick me out of the team because I'm making your favorite feel uncomfortable? I don't care. If he keeps the captaincy we're all screwed, we will be cut of Sunset Valley from the beginning"

The coach snorted. "Oh! So, according to you who should be our captain? You?" Mocked.

Paul shook his head and cleared his throat. "No, Kyle"

The air went still and now you could hear the sound of the traffic blocks away. The situation was tense now that Paul said those words, which meant that the coach was seriously considering what Paul just said.

The man nodded in acknowledgment to his wise choice and then parted his lips to reply. "I know you're concerned that we can't be good enough, but the only way to change that is…"

"We talked about it" Paul defied.

Now all the guys moved their heads from Paul to the coach, then at Jack on the floor and finally at a bewildered Kyle in the rear.

"You don't want me to be the captain anymore?" Jack asked hurt and now looked at all of them with sadness.

"We have nothing against you Jack, we just have been thinking about it and agreed that if we want to win, Kyle is our best choice" Aidan replied a little embarrassed.

"Yeah right" Jack replied sharply as he stood.

"Enough of this nonsense, I won't listen to any of this"

"Why? Because you know we're right?" Paul grunted.

"No! Because you can't win a game without relying on Kyle, until you learn how to think as a team and act as one I won't take any of you seriously, now go home everybody and I don't want to listen to any of this anymore"

"But…" Jim heard that Paul was replying but Kev hurried to shut him before the coach kicked them all out.

Jim sighed and felt a hole in his stomach, poor Jack he seemed so…

"Hi" He muttered when Jack reached him in his way to the locker room.

"You were part of this too?" Jack asked with disappointment in his voice.

"I…" Jim started and then he thought better, this was his chance and even when he was mad to the rest of the guys he had to admit that it was all his fault, it was his plan after all. He did this to Jack.

He nodded.

Jack smiled with sadness and passed by him.

He did it! He found the way to keep Jack away from him, he should have been celebrating instead of feeling like shit, but it was the right thing to do, for Jack and for him.

It was time to move on.

….

Allison, Allison, Allison. I thought about her the whole weekend and no, I wasn't becoming straight. I just couldn't help thinking about what happened. Every time I recalled what happened that day my heart lurched again as it did when I saw Kristie and Allison standing before us. It was just too disturbing and hard to get.

I had two theories. The first and the one I hoped was truth involved the fact that Allison was a good friend and thought about messing with Kristie to confuse her but it wouldn't make any sense because when it all started we agreed that we wouldn't hurt her but her relationship with Kyle because she was too nice and deserved someone better.

My other theory and the only thing that made sense in all this mess was that Allison and Kristie kissed, had sex or whatever because they felt attracted to each other and yeah the signs were always there but I didn't want to believe it because it was too twisted to even consider it

It didn't matter how much I thought about it, I kept going to the same conclusion over and over. Allison and Kristie liked each other, but I couldn't understand how. They were hot and they didn't look like lesbians, okay yah I know what you're thinking it was totally racist from me to say that they didn't look lesbians when I became a very weird and disturbing hybrid between the gay and straight standards, maybe they were lesbians after all but I had to admit that damn! They would break the world if they ever became a couple as the hottest lesbians on earth. What am I saying? I was mad at both of them! Fuck them!

In other hand, now that I recalled the texts that Kristie sent me thinking that I was Allison, she let very clear that all the things that happened between them were a mistake and that they were going to have a conversation to sort things out. They never had the conversation of course because Kyle and I interrupted them and since Allison got to work the whole weekend they wouldn't do it in the near future, but I couldn't help feeling like I saw something like it before, that this was a mistake and can't happen ever again, I like you just as a friend, I'm not lesbian, I'm not gay.

Now I remembered. Those were things that we all heard once in our lives, that meant that…Kristie was scared and confused, it meant that girls could be horrible human beings too.

It meant that Kristie was one of them and Allison was her poor victim, or at least that what she thought.

I counted the hours to see her, maybe she hadn't tell me yet because she wanted to do it in person or maybe she wasn't planning to do it ever, anyway I made my decision. If she didn't say a thing by Monday afternoon I was going to tell Kyle, not just for me, but for him too. I might have misjudged Kyle a little bit, I mean, he still was a jerk and everything but…He was a jerk in love and I don't know sometimes it felt like…I kind of saw the way he looked at me and gosh! I was a mess! There were too many things in my mind. The thing is that he deserved what I was doing to him but no what Kristie and Allison did.

To ease my anxiety a little bit those hard days I decided to work on my final projects. Sound production was easy because our professor was too pop and you could easily remix a dance song and attached to a video of fighting cats and he would love it, so I worked a little on it and changed some things in the Damiantia script to make the story twenty percent more twisted. That's the good thing about having a life as weird as mine, at some point reality is so twisted that you can use it to improve fiction.

At Sunday night my stomach groaned and I recalled that I hadn't eat in the whole day. Derek was out the whole day which was weird because Allison was still working hard to have free her next day and assist to her finals.

I came out of bed and walked to the store in the avenue, snatched a pair of sandwiches and when the guy behind the counter gave me my bag the door behind him swum open and I saw a steamy cloud that brought a fragrance, the scent of dew and wet dirt, the smell of wilted leaves and rainy afternoons, the unmistakable aroma of caramel apple's bars. Derek's personal mark.

I glanced at my feet like when my mom used to yell at Derek and me when we did some children's mischievousness. See? Everything took me to him, Allison cheating, the caramel apple bars and my loneliness.

_What happened to us Derek?_ I thought with sadness and bought the whole tray.

Maybe Derek wouldn't come back to me, he grew tired of playing house and now was moving out with that home wrecker lesbian Allison, and you what? Fuck them all! If he wanted to move with Allison and Kristie that was fine for me, if they wanted to have an orgy great! I didn't have Derek anymore but I had a bag full of caramel apple bars and they smelt like him and the best part is that they weren't going to tell that I was crazy or wouldn't let me for lesbians' pussies.

I shoved my hand in the bag and took one and damn it was so hot! But it didn't matter. I put it in my mouth and chewed slowly, tasting it delighted, and for a second it felt like…It felt like being with Derek again.

I opened the door absently and threw my keys and the bag in with the sandwiches over my desk while I approached my bed when something made me stop short.

It was a voice. The voice of Matthew Peterson. One of the main characters in the thing in the Whittemore, out favorite show. I totally forgot about it since we had our big fight that messed everything up, I bet the season had finish weeks ago.

I slowly craned my neck toward Derek's bed while I brought a bar to my lips and he cocked his head to the side to look at me gaping.

"You're watching the thing the in Whittemore!" I…I kind of accused him.

He nodded. "Is the whole season" He replied without looking at me.

I sighed and trudged to my bed.

"Those are apple bars?" He asked awkwardly at my back.

I nodded without turning.

I sat in my bed and oh god I wanted to crack in laughs for no reason, I was such a loser. He was probably mocking of me in his bed while he watched our show happily in his bed.

No, he wasn't laughing and I know that because I couldn't contain myself and looked up meeting his eyes by mistake.

There was an awkward and long silence in which none of us said a word and worst of all I couldn't keep my eyes away from his ice blue ones, it had been a while since the last time we looked at each other that I almost forgot how his face was.

"You know? Is weird but I realized that this show is kind of boring if I can't tell someone all the things they changed from the book"

I…Swallowed.

"You know what is weirder?" I said warily.

He shook his head.

"I got like a thousand apple bars and…Now I think I can't eat them all"

He held a chuckle.

I bit my tongue to not giggle.

"Well, this is crazy but…Could you look at my screen while I say all the things they changed, so I don't get bored?"

I straightened in my bed and looked up considering his offering. "Only if you help me eat all this caramel bars, deal?"

"Deal" He whispered nodded.

I stood and slowly walked to his side of the room. I slid under the quilt and handled him the apple bars' bag as he clicked play and we both watched the show and…I pretty sure that not just me but…Both us fought no burst in laughs.

….

Jim enjoyed his weekend too. While I was in bed with Derek reminding what was like to feel safe, Jim did quite the opposite. Now that Jack was out of his life he could think clearer. Alright, it wasn't like Jim didn't have feelings for him anymore. He just wanted to accept the fact that Jack wasn't his, he pushed himself to accept the fact that he couldn't just hope for Jack to break up with Beverly and suddenly tell him that he was in love with him. Life wasn't a fairy tale.

And that's how everything went back to normal, or at least what Jim called normal. On Friday he went to Carlos' apartment and kicked his ass at poker as usual, though this time he didn't take the money, he didn't need it after all.

He slept till late afternoon that Saturday, and thought a lot about Jack when he woke up, but he just grabbed a beer from the fridge and started the party all over. That night he called the betches –except me- to join him in the club that night, he missed the days we teased Tim for not being brave enough to flirt with Dray and had fun watching Freddy doing awesome choreographies.

Sadly for Jim the betches weren't available. He deserved it for not including me in his plans, he was avoiding to call me or see me because he didn't know how to explain me that there weren't any more videos and that actually he was done with the project because he fell in love with his prey.

Tim and Cass were busy with the Twins that weekend. He didn't understand much, but he thought he heard something about the clones being mad at each other. Hip was nowhere to be found of course. Since the project started he always disappeared on weekends and came back days later with new movies of him having sex with tons of hot guys. He was such a lucky bastard and even Jim was jealous of him sometimes.

Liam and Freddy were busy with something about dresses and a beauty competition so they almost yelled at him when he proposed them to hang out and get high. Damn! He had been so busy with Jack the last months that he didn't realize how the betches had split bit a bit and now it felt like everyone just minded their own business.

In the end he hanged with Ash and Paul's brother, Patrick. He was a bit stunned when she called him and asked him what he was doing, so he didn't think twice when she offered to go out with them. Patrick was nice, Jim didn't recall him much from the other day in the forest but now that he met him he was relieved that he wasn't an asshole like Paul, actually he was kind of a gentlemen and sometime too cheesy, he would have puke of them while they were drinking in the club but who he would be kidding? Those were the things about Jack that he loved most. And that's how he ended up thinking about Jack. Three am two empty bottles of Whiskey and sad thoughts, you just have to do the math.

His thumb scrolled up and down in the contact lists and he kept thinking and thinking about Jack, but it was stupid and useless, there was nothing he could do to change things, you couldn't turn people gay, then he thought about friendship, it would be nice to have Jack at least as a friend but who was he kidding? He knew the real reason behind that idea, again, he just wanted to see him and spend time with him not because he thought Jack was a good friend, he just wanted to do it to ease a little the lack of air in his lungs and appease his throbbing heart.

His battery died.

It wasn't Ash, it wasn't his self-control but his battery. He didn't know if he wanted to thank or curse his dad's company at the moment but he couldn't call Jack.

Tumbling down went to bed that night or morning? The sun was rising already. He threw himself on the bed and lay there for hours and hours, he didn't have breakfast or lunch though he could swear he heard Martha calling at the door a couple of times, but he wasn't strong enough to come out of bed, his head throbbed, his mouth was dry. His throat scrapped for all the cigarettes he smoked and he was so sleepy. He wasn't sure if he was feeling all those stuffs being awake or he dreamed he felt like shit, but there was something soothing about only be able to listen to his own breathing.

He hadn't drink that way in months, he was such a mess.

At ten or so he finally came out of bed and had some old pizza from the fridge and sat on his bed to read a little about his finals for the next day.

Microchips, who the hell got the brilliant idea of create those minuscule pieces of shit that revolutionized the world? Didn't they know that eventually a heartless son of the bitch would make a class about it?

The good news about Microchips' final is that Jim killed it. When he finished he grabbed his stuffs and climbed down the steps happily. He couldn't believe how much things changed in matter of months and now everyone saw him approach the professor's desk to leave his exam.

Mr. Ward nodded at him when he left the sheet over his desk and Jim smirked pleased.

When he closed the door took a deep breath. That was his final for that day, his hangover was almost gone and he still got plenty hours to study for tomorrows before it was time to go training.

He heard the door opening at his back a Therese, one of her classmates came out and she started asking tons of questions about his answers in his final.

Jim blinked and tried to process what she was saying because she talked too much and very fast when he saw a golden straw being light up by the sunrays that filtered from the windows in the hallways.

"Are you sure? I'm scared I might have chosen wrong" She was saying biting her bottom lip concerned but Jim wasn't paying attention.

It have been just a couple of days since the last time Jim saw or talked to Jack but…Now that he was looking at him he felt like it had been ages.

He ignored Theresa completely when Jack patted him in the shoulder.

"Hey Jimmy! Where have you been?" He said a little confused and concerned, though Jim could see other things in his eyes, uneasiness and something that felt like fear, all leap through his pithy bright lagoons.

Wait a second… Why he was talking to him?

"Jacky…Do you feel alright?" He said very confused.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling great, just came out of a really hard final but I think I did fine"

Yeah he looked pleased with his results but…There was something else too.

Jim looked around, the hallway was already getting crowded with more and more engineering students coming out of their finals. Jim grabbed Jack by the forearm and got away with him leaving Therese talking with herself.

Now Jim feeling pretty dazed and uneasy when they stopped in one side of the building in the left of the campus.

"Wow, are you okay?" Asked Jack chuckling as he put a hand on Jim's forehead to checkup his temperature.

"Are you kidding?" Jim said angrily. "I thought you were mad at me for what happened the other day"

Jack snorted and shook his head. "No, I mean… I felt a bit upset but I can't be mad at you or any of the guys for having opinions James, if you think that Kyle could be a better captain than I, I can't do anything about it but too quit"

Jim balled his hands and cursed in his insides. Shit! He forgot that Jack was Mr. Good will and shit. He should have known it wouldn't have been that easy for him to get rid of him.

"Wait a minute…You thought I was mad at you?" Jack laughed.

Jim looked away pretty upset, because he was relieved and…He couldn't feel that way, it was forbidden for his own good and Jack's.

"Is that way you didn't come to the center yesterday? You thought I wouldn't want to talk to you?"

Crap! He talking and talking and Jim didn't know what the hell reply, he felt like an idiot.

"You should have come James, Emily is…"

"Jackson! I've been calling at your phone for hours" Said a voice suddenly and the Jim's stomach plunged down.

Right! As if things couldn't get more complicated. Mrs. Whittemore came striding toward them.

"Oh mom! I'm sorry I was talking to James"

"Hello James" She said happily as she winked at him.

"Hi Mrs. Whittemore" Jim replied forcing his usual smirk while he nodded at her.

"We have to go now Jackson, there so many things we must do"

What was she doing there? Where she had to go with Jack that was so important?

"I'm sorry mom, I'll be there in a minute"

"There is no time Jackson, you could talk about it in the night" She said in a chastising voice.

Jim arched a brow.

"You didn't tell him?" She asked suddenly staring at Jack and then at Jim.

"No, we haven't talked mom, James thought I was mad at him for some reason"

There was short pause and then the woman burst in loud laughs. "Why? Why would you think that honey?"

Jim blushed at looked away.

"Why do you think Jackson could be upset with you when you have been the most caring and supportive friend of all?"

Crap this was so stupid!

"That's what I was saying" Jack agreed.

"I'm sorry, it was just a misunderstanding" Jim said avoiding to meet his eyes with any of them.

"Oh James, there is nothing to worry honey, I still have time to make your favorite"

"My favorite?"

"My mom wants to make a special dinner tonight to celebrate that Beverly and I are back together and to thank you for being such a good friend to us all"

No! Hell no! Jim wasn't going to that place and be humiliated. "I'm sorry Mrs. Whittemore but I have a lot to study for tomorrow"

"There is no problem I can help you study tonight after dinner"

Shit! Damn Jack and his good intentions!

"Is alright Jacky you don't have to…"

"Come on James, it will be just an hour, I bet you'll have enough time to study later"

Jim looked at Jack and then at his mother, Argh! He hated them both.

"I don't want to hear any more of this" The woman said with a singsong voice as she smiled. "You will come, I've been cooking the whole morning and I also made your favorite"

"My favorite?" Jim frowned.

"Lasagna silly" She giggled. "Jackson told me it was your favorite and I did it just for you"

Jim sucked a breath, he couldn't just get rid of them that easy could he? "That's your favorite Jacky" He reminded him with a sidelong look.

Jack smirked mischievously and Jim held his breath. Maybe now it was his favorite too.

….

I don't know when it happened exactly but Derek and I fell fast asleep in front of his laptop. I woke up before him wrapped in his quilt with apple bar's crumbs all over me. My skin was a little scratchy and by the uncomfortable way I slept my whole body ached, especially my neck. I couldn't be happier. I slowly raised my head from his shoulder and stared at him with a smirk on my face.

He got pieces of caramel on his hair, his glasses were askew and there were big bags bellow his eyes. He couldn't look any less charming. My heart gave a lurch when he slightly wrinkled his nose as if it was a bit itchy, I couldn't believe that I was there after all the things we said to each other. I had him back; finally Derek was there for me but…For how long?

As soon as I washed my drowsiness away recalled the fact that Derek was leaving with Allison in the near future and…Allison! Oh my god! I almost forgot about her and Krallison kiss. Yup, I made them a ship name just in case you're crazy enough to ship them together.

I came out of bed quickly. I gasped when I checked my clock and noticed that it was almost noon, Derek and I missed two classes but it didn't matter because that day's final was still two hours away.

I didn't want to wake Derek just yet, he looked so peaceful in his sleep, I wonder what he was dreaming about, probably about a threesome with Allison and another girl. Straight boys were pretty basic sometimes. Whatever, I was happy and Allison wasn't going to ruin that, actually she was going to give me some answers today or else…

I grabbed some clothes and walked toward the showers. Since I woke up pretty late everyone was in class already which meant that the dorms were empty and I could have a safe bath without boners or guys watching my naked body.

I washed quickly because I didn't want to miss time. I needed to get some things ready for post-production's final and also have breakfast or lunch or whatever you have when you wake up in the middle of the day.

Now clean and shaved I put on new clothes and got into the room and found Derek freaking out.

"It's late!" He said scared.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think I didn't hear the clock"

"We're going to be late! We're going to be late, and I'm such a mess" He said frightened.

I sighed and smirked in my insides. I missed crazy Derek, Crazy and preoccupied Derek was so funny and cute, it was like a little kid afraid of being sent to detention.

"Relax, we still got a couple of hours before going to the theater" I reminded him and blushed. It was weird but…I don't know, being nice to Derek and talk to him after all this time felt kind of Alien, actually, I felt a little embarrassed talking to him.

He chugged and took his towel.

I sat on my bed and took my laptop to check that everything was fine with that day's movie when an idea flashed my mind. I don't know, this whole I hate you and not talking to each for this long made me realize something, it was always Derek who always gave the first step and bent his knee to me even the times when I was the one who was wrong –I'm not saying that I was wrong about the project- I didn't show him very often how much I appreciated him and now I understood that I kind of deserved that he was leaving, I couldn't remember when was the last time I did something nice for him all out of the blue and without an apology involved.

I stood and walked to the kitchen, snatched some eggs from the mini fridge and oiled the fry pan. I crashed the eggs and poured their content inside the pan while went to the desk to slice the vegetables. I hated omelets but I knew that Derek liked them so…They couldn't be that hard to cook right?

"How this can be so hard to cook? I whined thirty minutes later when my I did my third attempt of omelet.

Fuck the internet recipes, fuck the cooking channel, fuck ratatouille, it was all a lie! Not everyone could cook, well, maybe everyone could except for me.

"What are you doing?" His voice suddenly said at my back.

I whirled taken by surprise and accidentally knocked the pan and threw attempt number three on the floor, poor bastard, he lived just a few minutes.

"Are you trying to poison me?" He teased wryly.

I rolled my eyes and hid my giggle. "You can bet I do"

Derek grinned and dressed up to later join me and finally work on a meal that wouldn't end up as a government's biological weapon.

After eating we grabbed our bags and walked toward the theater. As it was used in every finals week, many students from all careers approached the theater to ease their minds and forget about their miserable lives watching my class' crappy movies and of course my awesome ones.

All the lights were out when we came in carrying our laptops. Mr. Bailey was climbing down the stage when a movie started at our backs. Missy made us signs from the last row of seats on top of the room and we sat next her.

It was her movie and Catelyn's. That's why she was so excited when we joined her. Mr. Bailey was a little crazy, so for our final year project he wanted us to edit an already made movie and preferably a sci-fi movie because he loved special effects and aliens; I bet he was abducted when he was a kid because you just have to listen to him talk about conspiracies and those stuffs.

Missy loved indie films and she probably knew more about them than anyone else, so she picked a story no one knew, and even though our films could only last twenty minutes she managed to pretty consistent story.

When the movie was over and after the crowd's applause we saw two more which were boring as fuck and then finally was Brandon's who would probably display a sci-fi movie just to bootlick Mr. Bailey's ass.

"Good afternoon, everyone" He said climbing the stage followed by my dear friend Smithy and taking the microphone from Mr. Bailey's hands. Who the hell told him he could do that? "Its an honor to see our theater crowded with some many new faces from all Oakwood. It shows how passionate the world is about movies and makes us realize how meaningful our work is"

See? I told you.

"Today, My Friend Smith Jacobs and I will present you a…"

Someone threw popcorn at them. Smithy squatted frightened and I cracked in laughs.

"We wanna see Stiles Stilinski' movie!" A voice echoed five rows below me.

Oh my god! I had a fan! That was awesome.

Brandon cleared his throat while Derek and Missy looked at me impressed.

"It's a remixed and short version of the soon to be classic Star trek into Darkness movie that we hope will be of your liking"

Star Trek? Again? I mean, I didn't know much about that show or its movies but…Seriously, why Brandon wanted to destroy them so badly with his pathetic mixes?

He climbed down of the stage and the screen went black. Suddenly an image popped in the screen and my jumped on my feet when I heard a voice through the speakers and saw a boy in the screen.

It was me, six years ago.

"You're making me angry! I can't control it!" I roared at the camera when I was sixteen as poorly and gauzy flecks of orange light illuminated my hands.

Oh no! I couldn't believe that shit was still on my YouTube's channel.

Laughs, tons of them, coming from all directions.

"I might burst anytime!" I kept roaring.

The ringing of the laughter made me gasp, wherever I looked I found people staring at me and cracking in laughs while my first attempt of video editing embarrassed me in front of the whole campus. I was going to kill them! They were doing that because I scared the shit out of Smithy, this was their stupid and childish revenge and they wouldn't get away with it.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Brandon said in the minute two as he climbed back to the stage and took off the movie from the big screen. "Wrong file"

Now he put the right movie and everyone died of boredom but time to time I heard whispers and sniggers from below. I hated them! They were going to pay for what they did.

When their stupid movie was done Mr. Bailey announced a break hour to have a snack and relax before the next movies were displayed and I was up, and I wouldn't miss my chance to embarrass them the same way they did with me.

"I can't believe those assholes!" I grunted as I stormed out of the theater and found a place to sit below an oak.

"Take it easy, it was just a stupid joke" Derek chortled.

"No" I muttered. "They are doing this to get me for threatening Smithy"

"Smithy?" He frowned.

"Yeah, that elf that follows them whenever they go"

Derek scratched his head. "Jacobs? Why you threatened him?" He said opening his eyes wide open.

"I found out that that creep was following me for months wherever I went"

Derek gaped. "Seriously? Why?"

I rolled my eyes. "I think is obvious, they wanted to know what I've working on to see if they could top me:" I said without looking at him as I opened my laptop and looked for Brandon's YouTube Channel. Everyone had their awful attempt of movies when they were rookies and sadly for Brandon he never stopped being a wannabe of Stiles Stilinski.

"What are you doing?" He asked taking seat next to me.

"I'm just looking for something to crush him in front of everybody"

"Stiles, take it easy, it was just a joke, don't you remember how much fun we had that day?"

He got to be kidding me, I…I recalled. Those days in high school, Derek and I being a pair of losers, the ultimate duo, it was then when we decided we wanted to be movie directors, there was something thrilling about being behind the camera, capture the beauty of the world.

That movie…Derek convinced me two shoot it eve when I was afraid of doing it, if you hadn't notice I don't like much to people to look at me, I don't know, I just feel pretty uncomfortable, but Derek made me change my mind at least for that time and maybe another three or four, I couldn't remember, the good all days. I wanted that back. Maybe Derek and I were talking to each but still hadn't sorted things between us and I just couldn't let this pass under noticed. I had to be brave and apology for all things I said to him.

"Derek…I…"

"I did it! I did it!" A cheerful voice said from our backs and we both jolted.

Allison was standing at our left wearing a champion's grin, and now I everything came to my mind again, this was my chance, this was my chance and I couldn't miss it.

…..

Jim was masochistic, I mean, what the hell was he thinking when he agreed to go that stupid dinner? He should have said no, he should have said Jack that they couldn't be friends anymore for whatever reason came to his mind, but no, hell no, he had to say yes and condemn himself to hell. Ha! That's funny; the idea of hell for Jim was having dinner in Jack's home.

As he ran that afternoon he would stop looking at Jack and the rest of the guys while they played. He needed to find a way to make Jack mad at him, but what he could do? Supporting the guys with his own idea didn't work, made up a sickness would be suspicious and the coach would freak out.

Damn! It didn't matter how much he thought about it, there wasn't any solution for his dilemma. Now he would have to spend the night listening to Mrs. Whittemore' singsong voice quoting every verse in the bible while Jack and Beverly smooched on his nose, because Beverly had to be there of course, there couldn't be a celebration dinner for being back together without Barbie.

Back in the field, the guys continued playing as they did in every training session. On group fighting against each other for who should be the hero and score while the other let all the work to Kyle. Now that Jim thought about it he understood why the coach was right about being a damn bad idea to listen to them. They needed guidance, since they won their last game they acted as if they already won the world cup, when actually, they scarcely won their ticket to Sunset Valley and it was all because Garret, but no one recalled anything about it.

Four hundred and seventy nine. Wow! He was a stubborn bitch, though, he wasn't doing it to stay in the team, it was just to let the coach know that he wouldn't give up and bend his knee to him. He was breathless and needed some water but it could wait another lap, he wanted to reach the eighties before the guys' game finished. Half-way on what looked like the longest lap of all, Jim craned his neck back the game and see what they were doing, for his surprise everyone was staring back at him, he frowned and kept running when the ground beneath his feet got round and uneven.

Jim lost his balance and fell on his back gasping.

"Are you okay?" He heard Jack's voice say as he kneeled to offer Jim his hand.

Jim took it absently as he hauled as much air in his lungs as he could.

"That's all for today" The coach announced and Jim jerked his head toward the man's shape that contrasted the orange light of the dying sun.

It was time for the dinner, crap.

Jack pulled Jim up and grabbed the ball.

"Are you going straight to my home or do you have things to do?" Asked as they walked toward the locker room.

Jim shook his head and. "I would like to take a bath first" Chuckled tilting his and meeting his eyes with Jack.

Again… Something leaped through the captain's eyes, uneasiness, doubt…He…Fell almost as if…As if Jack wanted to say something to him and was scared to do it, as if he was in a struggle. His hand was shaking on Jim's back. There was something Jack was fighting with and it happened twice that day when was near Jim…Could it…Could it mean what Jim was thinking?

It seemed like…It was going to be a pretty interesting night.

….

"What did you do?" Derek asked casually as he stood and kissed her briefly.

I rolled my eyes.

"I passed! I passed I thought I wasn't going to be able to do it" She smiled happily and I brought my eyes back to the screen.

Damn it! Brandon got nothing embarrassing in his YouTube account and rummaging in his subscribers I found Smithy, but…He didn't have any videos update. Shit what was I going to do? I couldn't just let them go, they humiliated me in front of the whole campus, I could bet that for the next day my stupid attempt of the boy with burning hands would be viral in the whole town.

"Wait a second…" Allison said suddenly taking a look at Derek and then squinting at me. "You…You're together…You're talking to each other again"

Derek and I exchanged awkward stares and nodded.

"Oh I'm so happy for you!" She said kneeling to hugs us at the same time.

I laughed though I wasn't happy at all, she had to be kidding, if she was happy to see that Derek and I were friends again, why she wanted to take him away from me then?

Our eyes met and hers flickered with some recognition and remembrance. She gaped.

"Hale" A voice said at our right.

We all tilted our heads and found Mr. Anderson standing ten feet away from us, he was below a lamppost that suddenly lit and it was then when I saw the sky above. It was night already. Shit, I only got ten minutes or maybe less to find something to embarrass Brandon or Smithy.

I waved at Mr. Anderson absently and Derek stood to meet him beneath the lamppost.

I fidgeted in my keyboard as I pushed my nerve cells to find the answer I desperately needed.

"What are you doing?" Allison asked leaning her head to the side to glance at the screen.

"I'm trying to find a video" I replied a bit dryly without detaching my eyes from the screen. Shit! I've been recording my days for months there had to be something, anything that could help me shame them in front of everybody, but what? I only recorded the moments I was with Kyle.

Allison quickly looked at Derek and then brought her eyes back to me. "Stiles, we need to talk" She whispered though we were alone.

I stopped to a halt and craned my neck toward her thrilled, it was the moment! She was going to tell me the truth and I could finally make a decision of what the hell do with my project once and for all.

I held my breath and smirked. "Did something happened?" Asked innocently, as I told you before, I could have been a damn good actor.

Her eyes darted again toward Derek and then at me.

"Why…." She glanced down embarrassed. "Why did you kiss me?"

What? Seriously bitch? That's all you were planning to say? Why did I kiss you? What about tell me why in the hell you kissed Kristie? Jesus Christ! What the hell was going on with people lately? This was insane, she was supposed to tell what happened between them, she was supposed to tell me that she made up the kiss thing to make Kristie doubt about her and Kyle to help me but…No. She didn't say that, she didn't even mention anything related to them and it could only mean one thing.

They kissed because they wanted to. They kissed because they felt attracted to each other and it was time for me to take care of the situation myself and tell Kyle all the truth.

I blinked. "What's the matter? We are supposed to act like a couple in front of them, aren't we?"

She hesitated and then looked back at Derek. "I know Stiles, but we agreed that there wouldn't be any kisses between us or anything"

I snorted. "What else could I do? They were expecting me to kiss you, I had to do a good acting. In the screen writing course they told us that…."

That was it! The screen writing course!

I forgot about Allison for a second and came back to my laptop and scrolled down the videos in the horrible human beings' folder.

"Stiles that's not…."

"Wait a second, okay? I need to find something"

I which month did I record that? I couldn't remember, it was a silly video, but it was my only choice. Damn it! I should have organized the videos by locations and not just dates.

Screen writing course, it was like two weeks ago or months? Two months? Maybe three, wow! I spent a lot of time recording things for a project, if that wasn't commitment I didn't know what it was then. I hoped Mr. Perry saw all my hard work next week and gave me a straight pass to Hollywood or there would be blood.

There it was! I found the video.

"Stiles!" Allison urged me in a mutter getting in the middle of the screen.

"What?" I said frustrated.

"Stiles you kissed me, they weren't expecting anything from us what the hell were you thinking?"

Okay I was really mad at this bitch and even though I tried to ignore that she wouldn't let me be so…Here we go.

I stared straight in her eyes. "I don't know okay?"

She frowned. "What do you mean you don't know?" Fear leaped through her us.

"I wasn't planning it or anything, it just happened"

She scoffed. "You got to be kidding me. Are you saying that you have feelings for me?"

I shook my head. "It's not that" I said pretending to avoid her question while I made her to the side and inserted a disc in my laptops' drive to burn my prank video.

"Then what?" She arched a brow.

I shrugged. "I was curious okay?"

She squinted.

"I…I never kissed a girl before and well…I wanted it to know what it was like"

She cracked in laughs. "Seriously?"

"Come on don't mock of me" I pretended to plead her. "It happens to everybody right? There are guys who feel curious about kissing boys and girls too"

She stopped short and shook her head. "No!"

I chuckled. "Oh come on! Are you going to tell me that you never felt curiosity of what it would like to kiss another girl?"

She shook her head frantically. "Of course not! I…I know who I am and…"

My watch's beeped. Shit! It was time to present my movie.

"I have to go" I said standing up taking out the just burnt disc.

"Wait" She said taking me by the arm.

"What do you want? I'm need to hurry up"

She stared at me sternly. "You can't kiss me ever again okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "God! Allison it was just…"

"You did what?"

Oh crap! Seriously? Why this shit had to happen to me all the time? How is that I was planning to expose Allison's and Kristie's kiss and suddenly all the arrows pointed at me as the monster of cheating!

"I can't believe you, I'm trying to understand you and fix things up and you just…"

Alright, I had not time for this shit. I just got a new reason to hate Allison and hell! Right after presenting my movie she was done!

I just ignored what Derek was saying at my back and approached the theater. When I got in I gave my disc to Mr. Bailey and found a place in the third row of seats, of course Derek wouldn't want to sit with me now that he knew about the kiss, so I just sucked a breath and reclined on my chair.

"Now, we will presenting Stiles Stilinski' movie" Mr. Bailey said aloud and then frowned. "You don't have a partner?"

I stood and shook my head. "No sir, this is all my doing"

He nodded and climbed down of the stage. The screen went black and in matter of seconds the whole room was filled with people laughing their asses out as they saw Smithy's attempt to act the script I gave Kyle. He wasn't just terrible, he was pathetic and the crowd was proving it to him. Maybe I didn't find anything to humiliate Brandon but they could see this as a warning for all of them.

When I stood I saw his shadow running down the stairs as everyone watched. He wasn't invisible anymore, it would be hard for him now to spy on anyone. I started to make my way out of the row to give Mr. Bailey the real movie when I heard a hitched breath and then a stumble. Smithy had trip and now rolled down the last three steps of the stairs.

People laughed even louder and with a smirk on my lips and handled Mr. Bailey my real movie.

"I'm sorry, wrong disc"

….

Jack's face kept coming to his mind that night, while he bathed and dressed and the way from his home to the captain's. He just couldn't understand what was going on with him. That anxiety and fear, he looked at Jim as if trying to scream something, but what? There were only two expiations for that stare. First, that Jack was a serial killer and wanted to confess his crimes, but that was too stupid to even consider it, which only left…

His other idea was even more twisted. Jack wanted to tell Jim that he had feelings for him. See? Even crazier. It didn't make sense, if Jack had feelings for Jim why he came back to Beverly? If he loved him why he said that Jim was his best friend for advising him to get back to that frigid bitch. Jim bet that since they were back together they had lot of sex and enjoyed a lot. But…Then why? Why the stare?

He sucked a breath and rang the bell, after a thirty seconds the front door swum open, but it wasn't Jack who awaited for him. Instead his mother smirked at Jim.

"James, welcome" She said pleased as she hurried to surround him with her slender arms.

Jim hugged her back and noticed a sweet and refined fragrance in her. She was using a very delicate but sparky perfume. When they let go Jim now could see that she wasn't wearing her usual dresses with flower's patterns.

Today Mrs. Whittemore wore a stylized cocktail Dress, it was gray with jewelry in the neck line and longer than the ones she used to dress and. Her face changed too, she had red lipstick and mascara and her long blonde hair was knotted in a bun with only two strands falling over her cheeks. She looked ten years younger and oddly frightening.

"Mrs. Whittemore, you look beautiful" He smiled at her.

"Thank you James, you're such a gentlemen" She said batting her long lashes. "Please come in, Jack is in the living room"

Jim nodded and got inside. He couldn't put a name on it but suddenly he felt like if he just came through a portal to another world, the air was thick, cold and smelled like a church, just as it used the first time he was there. Jesus stared at him from every portrait in the walls, making him feel uneasy and unwelcome.

He got into the living room and found Jack sitting in the couch holding hands with Beverly whose eyes went wide open as soon as she saw Jim.

He was wearing a tuxedo and she a beautiful light blue dress, in front of them was Annie who had a dress similar to her mother's. Archie and Paula sat along her batting their legs as they saw everyone expectantly.

"James" Jack whispered in bliss as he stood and hurried to hug Jim.

"I think you forgot to tell me to wear something less casual" Jim pointed out as he looked down as his denim pants and orange t-shirt.

"I'm sorry" Jack chuckled and Jim noticed how Beverly glared at them. "It doesn't matter though, you look perfect just like this"

What? Jim's heart quivered and he held his breath.

"Hey! Is Jack's boyfriend!" An annoying voice said at their back.

Jim rolled his eyes and spun to meet Kristie.

"Kristie!" Mrs. Whittemore shrilled. "How did you call James?"

Kristie who was wearing one of Mrs. Whittemore dresses wrinkled her nose. "Jack's boyfriend"

Mrs. Whittemore' face reddened. "Kristie, I won't aloud you to…"

"What? I'm just pointing out the fact Jack and pretty face are boys and that they are friends"

Jack put an arm around Jim's shoulders and gave him a sidelong look.

Mrs. Whittemore just frowned confused.

"Look, is like when I say girlfriends, it means that I'm friend with a girl, like with Beverly" She quickly went to the couch, put an arm around Beverly's shoulder just like Jack did with Jim and fastened her cheek against hers. "See? Beverly and I are girlfriends" Giggled. "Right Bev?"

Beverly let go of her with a jerk and didn't say a word.

"Paula and I are girlfriends" Archie said suddenly in a very cute way as he hugged his sister.

"Kristie!" Mrs. Whittemore shrilled. "See what are you doing? You're confusing the kids, please for the lord's grace, behave as the grown up woman you are, we have guesses"

Kristie stood rolling her eyes.

"And make something about your hair, you can't wear it loose tonight"

"Alright aunty L. I'm coming" The girl sighed as she trudged out of the living room when the bell rang.

"They are here!" Mrs. Whittemore said with her usual singsong voice and ran to the door.

Jim saw her leave and then turned toward Jack who kept smiling, something wasn't right here.

"Come in, I want you meet someone very special" Mrs. Wood said at their backs. "James" Called his name.

Jim spun and found her accompanied by a couple.

A thin woman of forty two maybe more. She had a long face with sharp features, even longer neck and brown hair knotted in a bun just like Mrs. Whittemore' her eyes flickered when she saw Jim. She looked a bit familiar, when Jim looked at the man he understood why.

He was tall and fit, with bottle green eyes and short black hair combed in a very Disney's prince way, there was something weird in his stare, Jim couldn't tell what but apart from the fact that he was handsome, there was also that told Jim to not detach his eyes from him and of course his face looked very much like Beverly's.

They were her parents.

Okay now he really felt out of the place.

"He is James, he is the loveliest young man I ever had the pleasure to meet and Jackson's noble friend who helped to get our little birds back together"

Oh crap! This had to be a joke.

"Mrs. Whittemore I don't think I…"

"You don't need to be humble, if Lorraine thinks such greats things about you, I'm sure you're everything she says and so much more" Said Beverly's mother as she hurried to give a short hug to Jim.

"Is nice to see you Jackson" Beverly's dad said courteously and again Jim felt the need to scrutinize his eyes in search for something. "And to meet you James" Added.

Jim looked away embarrassed.

"Albert honey! They are here!" Mrs. Whittemore said aloud toward the stairs and then came back to the newcomers. "Well, I think we can all go the backyard, the air is fresh and there are beautiful stars shining in the sky"

Everyone nodded and followed her.

Jim took a minute to breathe and try to understand what was going on as he saw them leave when he felt something relying to him. He glanced down and found Annie next to him with a bitter smirk in her lips.

"Hi Annie" Said Jim smiling. "Why the long face?"

"I have a bad feeling" She explained sighing. "When my mom and Liz are together things tend to be kind of creepy"

Jim chuckled. "Don't be so melodramatic, come on" He disheveled her hair.

The came to the back backyard a found a long table with white cloth and beautiful silverware, this wasn't a common dinner thought he knew that from the moment he saw how everyone was dressed.

Everyone was taking seat, Beverly even helped Archie to get in his chair at Jack's right.

"James! Over here!" Jack called at him patting the sit at his left.

Jim and Annie approached them right when Beverly occupied the place Jack saved for him. Of course she would do that, bitch.

In front of them Annie and Jim got their places and put the napkins over her laps.

Was Mrs. Whittemore really serving lasagna? Wasn't that too simple for such fancy dinner? Though that Jim considered it. That was Jack's favorite maybe the woman wanted just to act patronizing with him, but why?

"Albert!" Mrs. Whittemore from the top of the table called again and then Jack's dad appeared at the door, as the rest of them he wore a tuxedo that made him look thinner than he actually was he waved at everyone and kissed the cheek of Beverly's mom.

When he was in his place Mrs. Whittemore stood and disappeared probably to look for the dinner.

Jim fidgeted with his fingers and he couldn't help feeling like if he was being observed, but when he looked up found out that Jack was pretty busy having an intimate conversation with Beverly.

"Are you okay pretty face?" Asked Kristie jabbing him in the ribs.

Jim gasped and nodded. "Yeah, I'm great"

"Here is the dinner" Mrs. Whittemore announced from their back. She was carrying a large crystal tray that contained what definitely was lasagna, wow that woman seriously wanted to please Jack.

She put it in the middle of the table and cleared his throat. "Well, now that everyone is in place I would like to say a few words before we have our meal" She announced.

"Here we go" He heard Kristie and Annie whisper in low voice.

"First of all, I want to thank my beloved friend Liz and her husband Chris for joining us tonight to celebrate that little birds are back together and that their relationship is stronger than it have ever been"

Liz stood along with her husband and both of them started applauding and since Jack and Beverly joined too, Jim thought it would be disrespectful if he didn't do it.

When everyone quite down Mrs. Whittemore spoke again. "Now, I would like to give special thanks to person without who none of this could be possible, Jack's dearest and wonderful friend James, who not only have been there for Jack and gave him good advises but also helped him realize how strong his love for Beverly was"

There were applauses again and now Jim's cheeks burned, with embarrassment and anger and then there it was…That feeling of discomfort, he felt exposed and haunted, like being alone in the Whittemore and then feel thousands of eyes on him, but Jack wasn't looking at him, neither Beverly.

"Now let's join our hands please to say our prayers and thank our lord for our delicious meal"

Jim grabbed Annie's and Kristie's hands and closed his eyes while Mrs. Whittemore started to thank and he felt how Kristie drew obscene shapes in the palm of his hands and mimicked her aunt's voice in a whisper holding a laugh.

When they were done everyone served themselves and poured some sparkling champagne without alcohol in the crystal cups.

Jim took a sip and had the first too bites of his dinner. Well, he had to admit that Mrs. Whittemore was a damn good cooker, he loved it, actually he would have like to have some more when he finished his piece, but it wouldn't look too good so instead he had an smaller piece this time felt the eyes again on him, but…Where?

He looked at Jack's father who nodded at him with a smirk, it wasn't him.

He sighed and pinched his piece again with the fork while he absently listened to the giggles of Jack and Kristie and that annoying feeling of being observed.

"Tell me James" He heard Beverly mom's voice say and his blood ran cold. "Do we know each other from other place?"

Jim snapped and looked at her in silence and he saw it, she was right. He had the feeling he knew her from somewhere else, but where? This couldn't be good, first Jack's mom and now her?

"I'm sorry but I don't think so Mrs. I wouldn't forget such pretty face that easily" He said pretending a smirk.

The woman blushed delighted.

"Look out young man, her husband is right here" Chris joked meeting his eyes with Jim and then again Jim felt the need to look through.

"I think I must insist James, I don't know why I have the feeling we…"

Jim's phone started ringing in his pants. Crap! He forgot to put it in buzz mode. He looked up and noticed that everyone looked at him.

"I'm so sorry, I forgot that…." He started tugged it out to see the caller's name.

It was Tim. What? Why he was calling him right now?

"It's okay James, there is nothing to worry about" Mrs. Whittemore affirmed.

Jim looked at his almost empty plate and stood, everyone was almost done too so it wouldn't be that discourteous of him if he stood.

He would have cut the call but…He felt uneasy, he couldn't help having a bad feeling, Tim never called, why was he doing it right now?

He walked away from the table and got inside of the house, sat in the couch in the living room and took the phone to his hear.

"Timmy?" He asked confused.

"Hey Jimmy I need your help" Tim said at the other side of the line calmly.

Jim sighed with some relief. "What's going on?" He asked wrinkling his brow.

"See Liam is…"

Jim heard shouts, angry screeches coming from the hallway, he knew that voice.

"Wait" He muttered putting a hand over the screen of his phone as he stood and walked to the wall that took to the kitchen fastening his ear.

"I don't see the problem" Jack said angrily.

"I thought this night it would be about us, not him" Beverly grunted.

"Come one Bev, he is the reason we're back together, if it wasn't for him I…"

"I don't care Jack, I don't like him, I don't like you when you're with him, remember your grandparent's cabin? You almost made a strip tease because of him! And you drank alcohol too"

"That' had nothing to do with him, I did it because I wanted to" He lied.

"I don't care, I don't want him here"

"We talked about this Bev, if we were going to be back together you would have to accept my friends as they are" He warned. "We're back together thanks to him and you will have to accept that he is here to stay"

Wow! It is just me or he was blackmailing her?

There was a pause and then she spoke again. "I accept your friends and I can like them Jack but not him, there is something not right about him"

"I don't…" He started but she cut him off.

"We're back because you love me, because you know that we belong together, not because some guy told you I was the girl of your life" She said furious.

She had a point, it didn't matter what Jim or Jack's mom could have said, in the end it was Jack's decision, though just for the record Jim never told him to get back to her he just assumed that.

They didn't say anything else so Jim came back to the couch and sat cursing in his insides, Beverly was right, Jack acted like dumb when Jim was around, she had all the right in the world to hate him, but she still was a bitch.

"Hello?" He asked to his phone.

"Finally, what you're up top?" Tim said with a chuckle.

"Nothing, just tell me what do you want betch"

"It's Liam" Tim explained. "He is having a crisis because his contest is this Friday and he still can find the perfect dress, he says that the green makes him look like a lizard and he is driving Freddy and me crazy"

"What do you want me do to? Go there and slap him for being such a drama queen?"

"No, you have style, I think you could know what…"

"Red" Jim replied listlessly. "He always looks good in red, it goes fine with his skin color"

"Do you think? Cuz Freddy could make..."

"Yeah…I have to go" Jim replied listlessly. He had no time for this.

He pressed his eyes shut and stood with his head throbbing, Beverly said the same thing Jim has been thinking the past days, Jack wasn't acting very Christian lately and it was Jim's fault. Crap, he shouldn't have come in the first place, it only made things more complicated for him and Jack, he should have stayed away, made up and excuse and get mad at Jack for some stupid reason. Everything would have been easier for both of them.

He trudged out of the living room, passed next to the empty kitchen and opened the door that took to the backyard. He felt it almost instantly, the eyes on him but this time he found them scrutinizing every inch of his body.

Beverly's father was staring straight at just two seconds ago and then he looked away. He was gay! Beverly's dad was gay! That's what Jim was feeling the first time they met their eyes, the man was checking him up.

Holy….

A shrill…A high pitched shrill that cut the quietness of the night. Jim's heart lurched and he quickly tilted his head toward Mrs. Whittemore who wore a fake shocked face just like Liz' as both of them and now the rest watched Jack kneel before Kristie saying the infamous words that made Jim's world crumble.

"Beverly Johnson, would you make me the honor to be my wife?"

….

My movie! I mean, my masterpiece. Well, I'm going to explain it you since you can't watch it but it turned out like this. Remember I told you that Mr. Bailey wanted us to mix a movie and make a new story with it? Well, I picked the lamest and renowned movie of those days, you know what, that piece of crap that was boring as hell and broke the box office's record. Well, everyone in cinematography hated that movie, included all my professors, classmates and me. So...The idea came to me while I watched it with Kyle two months ago. It would make everyone's head explode if I made them like something that they hated so dearly. And hell that I did it.

I changed everything, and I mean everything. At the end, the cliché main character and good boy turned out to be the motherfucker who planned all that shit because he was evil, and the antagonist and his sworn enemy turned out to be his allied and later his victim, and don't forget all the especial effects and the fact that he got way with his evil plan. Oh god! I know it wasn't original at all but…Hell that it was way better than the original version and everyone agreed with me, because instead of applauses everyone just got attached to their seats without speaking a word and with their eyes wide open.

After watching my movie, we so many and many boring ones until we finally the last one ended and everyone stood pretty tired and then the whispering started. Stiles was the common subject and awesome was the context of their chatting.

I smiled please and started to climb down the stairs feeling powerful. If they thought that I was awesome now, I couldn't wait to see their faces when they saw the horrible human beings' movie next week when it was over. All of my classmates, the coders included would bend their knees to me and claim me their king.

Mr. Bailey gave me a nod of not bad at all when I met his eyes next to the stage, I put my laptop on my bag and walked to the exit when Missy stopped me.

"That was cool" She said forcing the words to come out. "Almost as cool as mine"

I laughed. "Thanks"

"I have to admit it Stiles you're crazy" Catelyn added joining us.

I checked my watch, it was almost turn for Kyle's shift. If I ran fast enough I would reach him at time and tell him all the truth before it was late.

"I'm sorry girls, I would like to give you some lectures about how to be awesome but I have to go" I joked.

I started striding to the outside and then two guys I didn't know stopped me.

"Hey! You're Stiles Stilinski right?"

I nodded rolling my eyes, I don't want to be racist but they looked like bullies so I had my reserves.

"Man! You're movie was excellent"

"Totally" Added his friend.

"Is that Stiles?" I heard more voices at my back.

I saw a pair of girls coming over accompanied by Missy, Catelyn and back were the Coders.

I had not time for this shit, I lost too much time the past months, I had to tell Kyle the truth and kiss him.

I ran…I ran fast and heard people calling me at my back and hell! I would have loved to stay, I mean…What the fuck? I had fans! I had five or maybe six fans but…They were fans! That was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, I mean, you can't ever say that you're good at something if just your friends and family said so. You really know that you don't suck much when someone you don't even know acknowledges your hard work.

Oh god! I was so happy! Actually a couple of cars almost ran over me when I crossed the street because I was thrilled and excited, I couldn't believe that my movie liked that much! I had to tell Kyle…Yeah maybe I should do it before telling him that his girlfriend and fake girlfriend had an affair and definitely right before kissing him. I stopped short and looked up. There it was.

The pizza store. I did catch my breath and took the handle of the door.

….

How ironic, not long ago Jack and Jim held hands in that same backyard in a dinner like that one and everyone laughed at them because they thought that something was going there. Now Jack was there kneeling before Beverly, holding her hand gently and putting a ring in her finger. It had to be one of the saddest situations in life. When you have to see the person you love most being happy with someone else and worst of all is that you must smile and pretend you're happy with it.

That's what Jim did. He swallowed his pain and forced the biggest grin of all as he joined the applauses of everyone else, this is the reason why Jack was so nervous and absent lately, he didn't want to tell Jim that he loved him, it turned out that is what quite the opposite. Jack never was Jim's, and he had to accept it and say he was happy for him over and over again until it became truth.

"You're kidding right?" Kristie shouted when Jim sat next to her still applauding.

Everyone cocked their heads toward the girl.

"Are you seriously going to marry her?"

Jim swallowed and blinked shocked.

"What's the matter Kristie?" Beverly asked innocently as she glared at Kristie.

"What's the matter? Are you serious? No one else sees how wrong is all this?" Kristie grumbled shocked.

"Kristie, I don't care what is wrong with you but…" Mrs. Whittemore started furiously.

"Wrong me? They are too young!" She pointed out.

"My dear Kristie, I think I speak for all of us when I said that this business doesn't concern you" Liz said with a menacing voice.

"Doesn't concern me? Jack is my cousin! I care about him, tell them Jack! Tell them that you don't want to marry her!"

Everyone looked at Kristie as she was insane. Jack looked at his mom for a brief second and then his cousin. "You're wrong Kristie, I love Beverly" He replied dryly.

"You don't love her! You told me! You were with her just to please your mom! You know who she is, you know all the crap she said about me and your friends"

"Why are you doing this to me right now? After all the things we have come through, I thought you looked at me like a sister" Beverly whined.

"Lorraine" Liz said in a menacing voice.

"Enough!" Mrs. Whittemore exploded. "Kristie I want you to apologize to Beverly and Jackson and then go straight to your room"

Archie and Paula a food fight against each other and that was the first time Jim saw Jack's dad react, and all he did was to stand and take the kids out of there.

"Kristie were all waiting"

"I'm not doing anything! You can't boss me around aunty L, I'm not a kid anymore"

"Kristie, calm down" Jack begged. "You can't do this to me, why?"

"Because I love you, and I don't want you to ruin your life!"

Beverly started sobbing even harder.

"Oh please! Stop playing the victim! You're a bitch a you know it"

Alright, she stepped in the line and wow! Jim was her number one fan in the world now.

"How dare you!" Liz said standing up outraged along with her husband.

"Listen to me Kristie" Mrs. Whittemore roared like a demon. "You will show respect to my new daughter in law or else…"

Kristie scoffed. "You're new daughter in law? That bitch that hate us all! She even hates Jack, have you ever heard all the things she said about all of us? She called Jack boring piece of shit two years ago just because he didn't dare to steal your car to drive to a stupid concert in Portland"

"I…"

"Your dear daughter in law, forbid Jack to talk to pretty face here" She pointed at Jim and he shrugged. "Just because she doesn't like him, and if it wasn't for this moron they wouldn't be back together in the first place"

"I don't care anything you say, they are all lies" Mrs. Whittemore grunted setting her jaw.

"Yeah? Well, here's another lie aunty L. Bev, your dear daughter in law thinks that you're a frigid bitch that only cares about going to church and cook disgusting meals to make her get fat. She said that she doesn't like you at all, because you only talk about having grandchildren and doesn't think how hard was for her to get that slim, and she also hates talking with you because you're the most boring human being on earth and she bets that as soon as your kids grown up they will leave to never have to see you ever again"

Mrs. Whittemore went to Beverly's plate and went wide open when she found out that she hadn't touch her lasagna at all. "Get out! GET OUT! Mrs. Whittemore shrilled. "I don't want to see your face!"

"Great, I was dying of boredom anyway"

Kristie stood in silence and disappeared behind the door.

Mrs. Whittemore quickly took her hands to her head to make sure her hear was still on place.

"Oh my dear, I can't believe that girl's language" Liz croaked putting a hand in her chest. "Oh my beautiful baby, what horrible things that mad girl said about you" She ran toward Beverly and made Jack to the side to hug her.

Jim stood that was his call, the perfect excuse to leave. An awkward situation.

"Wait!" Mrs. Whittemore said looking at him frightened. "You can't leave James, the dessert is waiting for us"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Whittemore but I have to go" Jim muttered embarrassed at the moment his eyes and Jack's frightened ones met.

"Sweetheart, I know that Kristie ruined our celebration but we still can…"

Jim shook his head. "Is not that" He affirmed with a grin. "Mother called me, she has a problem with her and she needs me to pick her up from the mall" He lied.

Mrs. Whittemore look at him from top to bottom as if trying to tell if he was lying. "Oh go then, don't keep your mother waiting"

Jim nodded.

"And I'm so sorry about this shameful situation"

"It's okay" Jim affirmed taking his eyes from Jack who still looked at him with that same odd stared from that morning.

He shoved his hands on his pockets and strode off.

"James!" He heard Jack calling at him when he reached the door but he couldn't stop now, if he stopped…He didn't know what he was going to do or say, his head spun and it was cloudy everything was too much complicated for him. He shouldn't have come.

He opened the front door and by Beverly parent's car to get to his when he felt the brush of his cold fingers against his skin and stopped.

"Wait" Jack said at his back.

Jim cursed in his insides and spun. "You should be consoling your fiancée" Jim replied sternly.

"She is with her mom right now" Jack explained. "Look I'm really sorry for what you had…"

"Calm down Jacky, all families have their issues, is a common thing"

"You look to serious" Jack pointed out. "Are you mad at me for something?"

Jim shook his head.

"Great, because I have something to ask you" He pronounced slowly and then kneeled before him.

Jim's heart skipped a beat and he looked around disoriented…What….What was….

"James Taylor, would you make me the honor of being my best man?"

"No"

Jack blinked and stood with a puzzled look. "Why not?"

_Because it would kill me_. "Because I don't want to"

"But you're my best friend, it is supposed that…"

Jim snorted which was really hard considering the lump on his throat. _I'm not your friend, you're supposed to be my enemy_ "I'm not your friend Jacky, I can't believe you hadn't figure it out yet" He laughed.

"What…What are you talking about?"

_Is better this way, for both of us._ "It has always been a big joke Jacky and you're so stupid that you didn't see it, I been laughing about you the whole year and you thought that I was being nice, when actually I had to hold my laughs every time I saw you" He cracked in laughs.

Jack shook his head. "You're lying, I know you. I can see it in your eyes"

_You're right I'm lying, because I'm selfish._ "Yeah? Then why you didn't see that I was lying when I disappeared a whole week? I just grew bored of you and left but you were so stubborn, whining at my door that I felt pity"

Jack's eyes almost came out of their sockets.

_I'm lying because I can't bear the idea of watching your marrying her while I stand by you and pretend a smile._ "Oh! I would never forget your face the first time you tasted alcohol, I would have loved to take a picture and showed it to everybody, it was hilarious"

_I'm lying because you deserve to be happy, because I brought to light the worst of you. _

"Oh and the first time I came here, dude! I almost peep in my pants when I found out that you were Christian, it was so fucking stupid"

"Lie…You helped me that day, you told the guys to come"

_I'm lying to you because you're too good for me, I'm lying because the most beautiful thing about you is your light, and I'm darkness Jacky. So since I can't be with you the least I can do is safe you from me. _"I just called them to come here and laugh about how stupid you were"

Jack stepped back.

"Come on Jacky! Who you think was the idea of proposing Kyle for captain? Paul's?" He laughed. "It was me, I told him, I convinced them that Kyle was a better choice, go ask them if you want and you'll see"

_This is best for you, for us. _

Jack looked around as if he could see the guys in the team and kept squatting and shrugging until he fell on his back in the steps of the portico.

"Go! Tell mommy that a bad guy made fun of you so you can both pray about it"

Jack climbed the steps, trudged in and closed the door at his back.

Jim bit his tongue and walked to his car when a shape came out from behind it.

"What do you want?" Jim arched a brow angrily.

"Why did you do that?" Kristie asked furious.

"Are you deaf, or need me to explain it to you?" He said rolling his eyes as he opened his door.

"Cut the crap, I saw how you were crumbling" She grunted.

_Damn it!_ Jim climbed in his car and Kristie hurried to do it too.

"What do you want Kristie? Let me go!"

"You love him" She accused.

"So what? He doesn't love me back!"

"How do you know?" Jim's heart lurched and craned his neck toward shocked, but then he shook his head. "Because he is marrying her"

"This is not him pretty face! This was my aunt and that bitch's idea, I bet not even Beverly wants to marry"

"That's their problem, not mine"

"Are you going to give up that easily?"

"Do you know something I don't Kristie?"

She hesitated and then shook her head.

"Great, Jack's not gay, okay? Could you just leave him be? He loves her, he is marrying her and there is nothing we can do to change that"

"But…"

"Look, this is too much drama for my liking, I'm not a hero, if he wants to marry that's his business, I just want to go home"

"You got to be kidding me, that goodbye was the saddest thing I've ever seen, it looked like one of was dying in the arms of the other"

Jim rolled his eyes. "Can you get out? I need to go"

"Actually, I need you to drive me somewhere"

Jim sighed. "Okay, but this conversation is over"

She nodded with sadness.

Jim turned on the engine and started to drive away.

"I think he loves you" She whispered softly.

_I almost thought that too. _

….

What the hell? Were they give free pizzas or something? It was mayhem! You couldn't even walk in that place! Shit!

I pushed a couple of guys away to reach the counter and sadly I found Kyle pretty busy behind it.

"Kyle!" I called aloud from above the uproar of the costumers.

He snapped his head and looked at straight in the eye and smiled.

"Hey! Go to the back of the line!" Someone said to me angrily.

I ignored him. "I need to talk to you!"

Kyle grabbed two pizza boxed from the table at his back and put them on the counter taking the money of the guy next to me.

"Can you give me an hour or two?" He said with some desperation in his look as he if was about to lose it.

"Go the back of the line!" Someone yelled at me.

"I'm going!" I said angrily and turned.

"Stiles wait!" Kyle shouted and I turned.

He handled me a regular pizza with extra peperoni and cheese and a coke. That was my perfect match.

I took them puzzled. "I didn't ask anything!"

"Hey that was my order!"

"Is on the house!" Kyle said happily. "I heard about your movie, everyone is talking about it in the campus! Congratulations!"

And that's when I saw it, the way his eyes shone when he said those words, he meant them. Kyle was proud of me, not proud of I want to use you but proud of that's my friend! I knew you were special!

I blushed, I blushed awful and nodded at him to thank him.

Right when I turned I saw a pair of girls standing up to leave and I hurried to take their booth next to the window.

I put the pizza and the coke on the table and without giving them a try I tugged out my laptop and turned them on. Oh my god! Was it true what he was saying? Was people really acknowledging my work? I could wait for him, I would eat my pizza and wait an eternity as long as he was right.

When it booted I clicked the web explorer and opened my Facebook's account, if people were talking about me they would be doing it in Oakwood's fan page.

I typed my password and took a sip of my drink trying to concentrate in my laptop, everyone were talking to loud, some girls even came to congratulate me and I gave me kisses in the cheeks.

When they were gone I continued my search. My profile popped open and I heard angry yells, outside the pizza store, but I didn't pay attention, I wrote Oakwood in the search bar and pressed enter.

"Come on!" Someone roared. "You're coming with me"

"No!"

Damn! Between those assholes outside and the people in I was starting to have a headache.

The page finally charged and…Oh god! Everywhere you looked there were comments, and pictures of my movie. How many people were in the theater today?

Amazing, great, better than the original, this guy will be someone someday. Those were some of the comments I read as I scrolled down and then I saw one from a professor.

I think he taught in engineering, I'm not sure, but thing is that he saw the movie and left a long post that started by, he had no words to describe how talented are Oakwood's students, and how a movie presented by Stiles Stilinski gave him very pleasant twenty minutes that he would have liked to be two hours and…

"Come on! Stop acting like a child!" Someone screamed even louder, now it came from inside, actually from my right.

I craned my neck and found Brandon dragging a cheek damped Smithy to my booth.

I rolled my eyes.

"Look what you did to him!" Brandon roared at me and suddenly everything went silent.

"Hey! Awesome" I replied bitterly and came back to my laptop.

"I'm serious Stiles, you had no right to humiliate him that way"

I snorted. "You got to be kidding me, I couldn't do it but, you had right to make that stupid prank to me at Bailey's class?"

"We were just joking"

"So was I"

"I'm sick of this Stiles, of you believing that you're the best of our class, of threatening my friends and then making fun of it"

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't send your minion to spy on me" I looked at Smithy with despise, that little piece of shit couldn't even look at me in the eyes, instead he rather see toward the counter were Kyle delivered some pizzas and pretended to be reading the prices.

Brandon let go of Smithy and balled his hand. "I told you! Stop making up things!"

"I'm not making up anything!" I growled.

"I never sent him to follow you're crazy, you're so bigheaded that you think that everyone is obsessed with you"

"Really?" I scoffed. "I have proof" I bellowed swinging my arm to grab my laptop.

I knocked something with my fingers and heard a hell scaring screech that made my heart stop short.

I went still, with my eyes wide open as everyone stared at me open mouthed.

I turned. My laptop was soaked with coke and the screen was off.

No.

I remember the cold air, so at some point I came out of the pizza store carrying it with me. I also recall blinding lights, horns and drivers calling me names. The wind, I also remember the wind, it was too chilly for that season of the year.

Someone called my name in the distance, I think it was Brandon, no, I knew that voice.

Like being woke up by a bucket of ice water I jolted.

"What happened?" Derek asked with his eyes out of orbit. "What happened?"

It was now when I understood that I was sobbing in my bed holding the corpse of my laptop, the project and my dreams.

"I hope you're happy because it's over" I roared at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Is over!" I said furious pushing him away. "The project is over"

The horrible human beings project was officially over.


	14. Chapter 14

Well guys, today December 7 isn't just my birthday or Stiles' birthday, today is also the day 4 years ago I met Isaac and 3 years from the day I said goodbye to him and almost made the biggest mistake of my life y the reason why I started writing this story, beyond wanting to help y have fun with my character's crazy stuffs I wanted to send a message of hope and peace to the people that lives similar experiences. And well, I thought it would be nice to publish the end in the same day where everything started. Call me romantic.

Well, enough of melodrama hahaha, lets play a game before you read this penultimate chapter publish your theories in the comments and when after reading the final chapter we will see if you were right or not hehehe. I'll see you in the end, thanks for all the support and comments, you make me feel as if it worth living all that because I got the make something positive from all that pain.

**LET IT GO**

I think I was an X-men, I mean, have you noticed that every time I was crying over something it rained all day? Wow wheatear-bending, what a cool super power, well, the problem is that I hate the sun and if I wanted gray skies every day I had to be weeping. Anyway, I'm just kidding, my only real super power was to get my ass in trouble.

I was in trouble, I didn't just lose the project but my mix for sound-production's final, the good thing is that the rest of the my finals were written in a boring class-room, and since I had already passed sound-production I had nothing to worry about except for Mr. Perry's class. I don't know if you remember well, but…The project worth sixty percent of my final grade, which meant that without the project or my laptop I was doomed. I would have to take Mr. Perry's class again next year and worst of all everyone would be laughing at me, and I wouldn't be able to graduate with Derek or the rest of my classmates. I bet Brandon was laughing his ass out right then.

I'm not sure if I was sad at all, I mean, yeah I cried for hours in my bed, but…Was I really doing it because I lost my chance to take revenge? Or I just wanted to cry to convince myself that I wanted to display the movie at last? You might not understand what I'm saying, so let me clear things for you, and no, I hadn't been lying to you or anything, is just…Is something I realized that night after I ran away from Derek and sunk into the darkness of the campus to later try to sleep in a chair of the theater.

I thought a lot, you can't just sleep when something this relevant happens to you, not when your heart his chocking you and you keep seeing that incident that changed your life over and over in your mind. I thought that maybe…If I hadn't move that fast my laptop wouldn't have died. I thought about time machines and saw the scene over and over from all angles –I was cinematography student after all- But it didn't matter how much I tried to came back to that point, I just couldn't time travel.

Sorry, I was going to tell you why I wasn't that sure I wanted to present the project in the end. Just think about it, I was days away from the screening day and…I got nothing, actually, there were more questions in my head than answers. First of all and most important Kyle. Things hadn't change at all between Kyle and me, he kept saying that I was his best friend and blah blah blah, other than that…Nothing, just awkward hugs and speeches of how I was the best friend in the world and how he didn't deserve my friendship.

Don't get me wrong, at this point sometimes I thought that the betches were right and maybe Kyle had some feelings for me, but I couldn't afford to consider that, because…Forget it, what really matters here is that we never kissed or was an actual insinuation of romantic interest in me from him…Right? And just do the math, with just days away from the big day so and many things that should have happened between us after he found out the truth, it was just impossible to present the project and I think I knew that from the beginning. I kept track of the time, I could have pushed things a little bit, but instead, I found myself immersed in parties, in movie afternoons at his loft, in having a straight life and worst of all, enjoining it.

I think I knew months ago that the project wouldn't be displayed in the end. I think I just convinced myself that I was going to do it to have an excuse to see Kyle other than the fact that maybe…I liked to spend time with him. Self-sabotage, I stretched things this long because I liked all the things I was seeing and living and I didn't want to put an end to it. That's what I hoped, to run out of time and never show the movie, and I think that's the reason I didn't feel any pain or sadness, just emptiness in the inside.

The other reasons why I knew that this would happen eventually also had names. Jim, Kristie, Allison and Derek.

I lost track of Jim a while ago. I didn't call him or got a call from him since we got that conversation about Jack and his birthday party, so many things had happen since then and even when I thought that Jim was my best friend and that I could tell him anything, I never told him about Isaac or Derek, not even a mail to comment him about Allison and Kristie and freak out together. I didn't know how everything was between Jack and him. I think I stopped mattering long ago for the same reasons I told you before.

Kristie and Allison…Something was going on there, Allison was supposed to be my partner in crime, but also was the reason why Derek would close our dorm's door for the last time soon and that killed me. She was taking him away. It was so confusing and frustrating, but…At the same time I understood why I kept letting her betray me over and over again, and it was that deep inside I just couldn't believe she was doing it.

Derek…My rock, my first memory is about him, not my parents, not a camera, not the sun or my first swear. It was stairs, my first memory were the stairs that took to his room, the happiest place on earth –I'm sorry Disney- I felt bad about Derek for so many reasons that I wouldn't know where to start.

I lied to him for months, when he found out the truth I yelled so many awful things at him and said that he was jealous of me.

I made him break up with his girl.

I didn't talk to him for other bunch of months and that time…When I was in the forest he tried to fix things up –I know, he called me to ask for Allison, but we both know it was just an excuse- And I just yelled at him harder.

I felt jealous of him for being happy and that was wrong in so many terrible ways that the only thought of it made my guts squirm and my heart ache, but the worst of the things I did to him was to neglect him, get him out of my plans and my life. Bit a bit I drew a line in the middle of us. We were supposed to be best friends and I was really mad at him for leaving but… I didn't realize that it was me who left his side long ago. I left the moment I recorded that first video with the betches in the New Year's morning.

Sorry, I think I just lied to you, that wasn't the worst thing I did to Derek. The worst of tall was the fact that it had been a week since I found out about Allison and Kristie's kiss and I hadn't say a word to him. When I found out the truth about them, I thought about so many things and most of them were Kyle related, it never crossed my mind that Derek was being affected too by this whole situation and what hurt me must was….

That I wasn't going to tell him anything anyway.

I did many wicked things the past six months, from putting itchy powder on Kyle's eyelids to invite half of the city to Kristie's home to get her in trouble, but this wasn't going to be one of those things. I loved Derek and I wanted the best for him, but…I also had to admit that…Even when I hated Allison and Kristie I also loved them. I had spent so many time with them and now I considered them my dear friends. I just couldn't push them out of the closet as it happened to me, I still wasn't even sure of how things were or if they really had feelings for each other, the clues were there, I grant you that, but in the end I just didn't feel brave enough to do that to them, I couldn't just screw Allison and Derek's plans when I didn't know the context of their affair or how serious the thing was. Maybe they were just experimenting, maybe it was just a one night thing. Would it worth to throw away years of relationship for a one night thing? Why they did that?

I should have talked to them, but I didn't care anymore what happened and it wasn't my business anyway.

I think I can resume all the things I just said to you in one sentence. I was afraid of the future. Just think about it, I did plans and plans and nothing ever happened, and…I just kind of felt like it was fine that way. Subconsciously I think I kept waiting for something to ruin everything that could set me free from the responsibility of being myself. That way I wouldn't have to present the project, I wouldn't have to accept the fact that soon Kyle and I wouldn't hang out anymore, that way I felt safe. I think that's why the idea of Derek moving out scared me so much, apart from the fact that I couldn't picture my life without him, was something else, and that thing was…Picturing my life in any way.

Yeah, dreaming about Hollywood and academy awards seemed so ambitious from me, but also were pretty basic and safe things. Let's face it, I didn't have a plan. I didn't know what I was going to do when I graduated and it scared me that all my dreams vanished when it was over. I know what you're thinking, yeah, my movie for Bailey's class rocked, but it was a remix, it wasn't an original anything from Stiles Stilinski and it just liked to a few, it wasn't like the whole town was talking about me, I wasn't that great, I just wanted to believe that I was, because it meant that I was in the right track and that maybe one day I wouldn't have so many questions and fears inside my head, but the reality is that, what? It liked to twenty maybe sixty people? That didn't make you a celebrity, not even a local star.

Wow! I can't believe all the things that I realized once I was brave enough to look at myself in the mirror, and see all the things that were wrong with me, and not just with in the outside, but in my heart and my mind too. Being a grown up seemed to be easier when I was little. Derek and I used to think that when we were teenagers we would be bigger and stronger and no one would bully us ever again. When we were teens we thought that once high school was over everything would be better, and now look how I was. Maybe that's why I was so afraid of the yet to come, things...Just tend to get more complicated while you grow older.

Can your body work without food or any water? That's an interesting question, because I didn't feel hungry, or thirsty, or even sleepy anymore. All I felt was emptiness and also…A bit of peace.

….

The world stopped moving the moment Jim told Jack all those awful things, some truth and many others half-lies to keep him away from him. He succeeded in his task and now was paying the consequences. Jack's absence was even more noticeable that his disturbing usual good mood, that was so hard to ignore. It was like waking up from a dream, a very bittersweet one that left butterflies in his stomach every time he thought about it and hole in his heart when he recalled that it was just that, a dream.

When he woke up that morning, he knew that things wouldn't come back to normal soon. He used to wake up to find a text in his phone from Jack wishing him a good day, but today his notification's bar was empty. It looked like even the stubborn adverting pages that spammed everybody's morning were mad at him too.

There was a soft a warm breeze that came accompanied by intense sunrays from the open window at his back. Jack never stayed at his place and wouldn't do it ever anyway, but…For some reason Jim's bed now felt larger than he recalled, it was a cruel joke from the universe, suddenly his apartment didn't feel like a good place to live and he…Kind of longed his home, his mother's arm and the constant teasing of his brothers.

He came out of bed and walked to the kitchen. There were empty bottles of beer everywhere and rotting pizza crumbs over the table. He needed to do some cleaning but not just now, he was so dazed and sore, he wanted to sleep. All the hard work from the trainings those days had a big toll on him. He felt constantly exhausted and craved for more sleep hours, but it didn't matter how much of them he had, they never were enough and after last night… He just wanted to stay in his bed and watch TV the whole day.

He couldn't though.

He got a math final that day, he didn't study the night before, no human being would be capable of studying right after the night he had, but it didn't matter, it was just math. The good thing about them is that you don't need to learn or memorize things, you just had to solve problems and Jim was good at it, if only life was like math, everything would have been easier for him.

He passed! Yay? Bah! Jim wasn't like celebrating, he got enough of celebrations for a while. His classmates invented him though. It seemed like being a dork got its benefits in engineering, only nerds could study that after all and if you weren't one of them you weren't cool enough to hang out with them or even join their study groups.

You might think that Jim would chicken out after what happened and wouldn't come back to the team, but he did as if nothing happened, he had to be strong and also he was near his goal and couldn't just drop all his hard work, whatever. He also wanted to see Jack.

You know what's funny? Jim missed training sessions a couple of times before pretending to be sick. Today his head was killing him, but still, he came to the field's borderline when the coach showed up and ran and he did it faster than he had ever done, and you know what's even funnier? Jack didn't come to training that day.

It hurt Jim for so many reasons, because the two only possible reasons for why he didn't show up were pretty sad. Jack probably stayed till late night, spending time with his fiancé, laughing, holding her hand, telling her how silly things and swearing endless love to her for the rest of their lives.

The other possible reason is that Jack was so hurt for what Jim said to him that he didn't feel like going to practice, maybe he even quit the team after what Jim said about his plan of proposing Kyle as the new captain.

Jim ran so fast and desperate that he couldn't look to the side and see the guy's game, but he knew he wasn't there, he knew he didn't get late. It wasn't until he was slowly his pace a bit that he heard Garret's voice asking for Jack, he wasn't sure which where his actual words, but the boy looked around while he asked.

No one said a thing, all of them knew something that Jim didn't.

As you might have noticed by now, those days were hard for Jim, for both of us.

….

There is something beautiful about the silence, being immerse in the darkness of the…

"Hey! You can't be here!"

Crap! Stupid Janitor.

I rolled my eyes and trudged out of the theater.

There is something beautiful about the noise of the world around you, hadn't you ever stop to listen? Is overwhelming and scaring, those millions of voices speaking quick and aloud, stories awaiting to be told. If you could put them all in one movie…What it would be like?

Anyway, it was Wednesday's in the morning, no one found me on Tuesday because that day wouldn't be any displaying and I heard that the acting program would take their exams to the forest or something like it. I had it all for me and it was relieving, there was something about being alone in there that made me feel quiet about this whole situation.

Before you say that Derek left me alone for being such a horrible friend to him let me tell you that you're wrong. Derek knew where I was, he texted at midnight the night I disappeared. He didn't mock of me or told me that it was the best. His message was something like this.

"I know you need time for yourself, let me know if you need anything"

"Thanks"

"I…I don't know how to say this but…You can't…You know?"

"I won't kill myself for a stupid movie Derek, I just need to be alone"

"Sorry"

"It's okay"

"Good night"

"Good night"

That's it, he let me have my space, and well, that was kind of hard for me, I mean, I was relieved that he could understand me and let me heal my new wounds by myself and at the same time…It hurt me that he listened to me and let me figure things out alone, but I'm glad he did it, I can't explain it with words but…I think that was exactly what I needed and I think is something we all should do at least once in our lives. Get unplugged from the world, lock down in endless darkness and be forced to face our deepest demons.

When I came out of the theater that morning I was someone new. I didn't have any answers of my future, I wasn't wiser or stopped believing in the horrible human beings. I just… felt as if I just reborn, as if I was a blank canvass.

Maybe I was a new Stiles, but the world still saw the person I used to be, because I don't know how many pats in the back I got while I saw the world shining at last after the storm.

I'm not saying I was ready to face Derek or Kyle or anything, actually I needed more time to be alone. I still needed to figure out who this new Stiles was, after all, I think I couldn't just move on that easily and be part of the world without a goal in life, I felt lost and I needed to find my new motivation.

I'm good at procrastinating, oh hell! You just need to see the past months of my life. So…I wasn't feeling like hitting the road just right then to find my new self, instead I took my chance that all my classmates were busy with sound production's final and went to the movies, I needed to see what the world was talking about and which were the new tendencies, you can call it doing research, I say it was more like running away until I could came up with an epiphany of who I was.

Once the final movie ended, I just came back to my dorm and started studying my next day's exam, and also checked my phone for the first time since Monday's night. Kyle texted me, he said he was concerned about me. It was the same text over and over again, I guess someone eventually told him about my laptop, the other texts were from Allison, Kristie and Derek of course. The girls just wanted to know if I was okay, Kristie also said something about living with Kyle and that I was welcome to stay with them if I needed company. Derek wanted to know if I was hungry because he made bitter-sweet chicken, dumb Derek. My stomach said "_where is it?"_ And my mind _"shut up, we got to study"_

Derek got home twenty minutes after I finished studying. The parts of a camera where pretty basic things, so…I actually did it to keep my mind busy until sleep came.

When Derek found me he jolted taken aback, but then…His expression just shifted and he blinked as if nothing happened. He put the bitter-sweet chicken to heat and we ate it talking about the day and the crazy wheatear and those stuffs. He never asked where I'd been those days. He never said anything about the project or even chastised me for ditching class, and of course we never mentioned a thing about all our issues and the massive wall I erected between us. It was just a normal day in our lives, before the betches, before the project, before Isaac or Allison or anything else, just us.

While we ate I noticed that my laptop was gone. Derek was stubborn, he probably took it to a store to get it fixed. I couldn't believe he was trying to do such thing for me even when he didn't share my ideals and several times yelled at me that I was crazy. If the dictionary didn't have Derek's picture in the entry of best friend then I didn't know what it meant.

But even when I was grateful with him for trying and I also wanted him to stop, it was time to move on. He had to let it go. I gave up days ago anyway.

….

Jim and I were so alike and different at the same time. While we were facing similar situations and responded to them in a somehow similar way, I have to admit that Jim's response was better than mine. He never lost the track of who he was, he might feel disappointed of many things he had done, but he wore his mistakes proudly and moved on with his life. That was the main difference between us. While I hid from my problems and procrastinated the response, he continued with his life.

The good thing about the pain in his heart was the need he felt to run away and never come back was that he could drain all that frustration and anxiety running –And gather strength to face the world another day with his head high-, and he ran as if the world was ending. By Wednesday afternoon he had reached eight hundred and fifty laps. He was so near of the end that he almost felt tempted to finish it once and for all just shut the fuck off of the coach and make his mustache fall, but he knew the limits of his body and it would be dangerous to push himself longer than he could.

He was back by the way, yeah, Jim thought that Jack left the team after all the things that Jim told him, but he was back and even though Jim made his best to not look at him, time to time he just couldn't help to stare and he didn't like what he saw. Jack wore something in his eyes that scared him, it was something beyond determination and anger. He looked so annoyed and mad, actually, he could notice that he was being a little rude to the rest of the team, it was something easy to understand, considering that now he knew that Jim manipulated them all just to take him down.

He never looked back, it was a good and a bad thing at the same time. It didn't matter how many times Jim found himself with his eyes fixed in the captain of the team, he just…Never stared back. It almost felt as if…As if Jim never existed in his life at all, as if he was invisible and not just for him, but the rest of the team and the coach never bore their eyes on Jim. I remember I told you that Jim was a peacock, so it hit his ego badly to realize that no one pay attention to him, though it was better that way, he didn't want to see or talk to anyone those days, he still needed time to heal.

The sun went down and when the coach blew his whistle Jim stopped to a halt. He saw his team mates walking toward the locker room as they laughed and teased each others, and then he noticed that they were making fun of Jack. At this point they should have known that Jack was marrying Beverly. He looked uncomfortable with the whole situation and Jim didn't want to listen to them talking about the commitment or anything, so he waited in the bleachers for them to come out. The minutes stretched out while he catch his breath. Most of them liked to shower in the locker room after training, while Jim rather the hot water of his loft.

"Where you think you're going rookie?" Jack's voice suddenly said in his mind and Jim looked down at the field, where he saw himself months ago listening those words coming from Jack's lips.

He was so exhausted and mad that day, Jack was such a dumb boy and stubborn…Damn that he was.

"Now, don't look at the feet, they are treacherous, always look at the eyes there's the trick" Jack said other day, when he was telling him how to steal the ball.

Jack always looked at Jim in the eye, why he never saw the truth that he hid behind? How he couldn't see that Jim wasn't good at all? Why he had to trust in him? Why he had to be so naïve an innocent? Now that Jim thought about it, he should have learned how to read the eyes, to see that Jack was lying when he told him that Jim was a good person and almost convinced him of it. He should have known that some things couldn't be changed with just wishing for them.

"What are you doing?" Said a cheerful voice and Jim whirled in his seat.

Next to him was Kristie peeking through the darkness as if trying to see what he was looking at just seconds ago.

He rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I didn't know where else to find you"

"What? Why? What happened to you? Are you really living with Kyle after all?"

She smiled. "You can't believe how great is to wake up without listening to my aunt's voice"

Jim held a chuckle. "So? You're gone for good?"

She nodded. "Yeah, that bitch called my dad and made up a lot of lies about me, she even said that I tried to give crack to Paula, so I can't go back to her home"

Wow! That was harsh, he knew that Mrs. Whittemore was kind of crazy but…

"Or my home"

"Wait…Your dad…"

She nodded with sadness. "Yeah, he is in Amsterdam right now, got a lot of work but…He got some five spare minutes to tell me that he is very disappointed at me, that if my mom was alive she would die of a heart attack when she found out what a monster I was, so…Basically he didn't believe and told me that I wasn't her daughter anymore"

Jim pressed his eyes shut. How could she say that so calmed? "I'm so sorry"

"It's okay, when he is back if he ever comes back I'm gonna tell him the truth, he will have to listen to me, but till then I'm staying with Kyle. I'll get a job and everything will be fine"

Wow! She was so optimistic, even when she lost everything fighting for what she believed in.

She sighed. "Anyway, I didn't come here to tell you about my exciting life"

Jim arched a brow.

"I came here for this" She explained handling Jim a rolled sheet of paper.

Jim took it puzzled and unrolled it on his lap. The surface had a long and very hard to read sketch with pointed lines and arrows that pointed at all directions and connected bubbles and draws, like the one of a mad woman that was suspiciously very alike to…

"What's this?" Jim wrinkled his brow.

"This is what we're going to do to save Jack" Kristie said with a self-sufficient grin.

"We're gonna what?" Jim sighed losing his patience. "I told you Kristie, I'm not doing anything and less… Is that an anvil?" He said shocked.

She pursed her lips. "It was a piano in the beginning" She started saying as she arched a brow thoughtful. "But then I thought, how stupid, how I'm in the hell are we going to find a piano that big?"

Jim glared at her, was this for real? "Look Kristie, there is nothing you can do, he loves her, he chose to marry her, don't you get it? It's over"

She shook her head. "You're the one who isn't getting it pretty face"

"Don't call me…"

"Alright Jack's boyfriend"

"Don't call me that either!" Jim rolled his eyes.

She chugged. "Anyway, you're not getting the point, didn't you see it that day in the dinner?"

"Didn't see what?"

"The way he looked at my aunt when I told him to say the truth that he didn't want to marry Beverly"

"So what? You can't just plan to let fall an anvil over Beverly just because a stupid look"

"It wasn't just that, Silly!" She giggled. "Think about it, my aunt made Jack's favorite, lasagna that night"

"Is that a code for I want you to marry a bitch?" Jim let out angrily.

"Something like it" Kristie laughed. "Look, didn't you see how fancy that whole shit was? I bet she had plans for something more elaborated, that bitch is pretty bigheaded, but maybe Jack wasn't that fine with the idea of marrying and she made the lasagna to appease him"

"That's the most stupid idea I ever…Is this a casket?" He said shocked pointing at the poorly made draw with his finger. "Why do you need a casket?"

"Duh! For my aunt, when she dies of a heart attack after seeing Jack and you kissing in this part" She explained using her nail to guide Jim's eyes to the stick men kissing.

"You're crazy" This was so stupid! "Jack doesn't like me at all, he hates me"

"He doesn't hate you, if he hated you he wouldn't be so down right now"

Jim snapped and then thought better. "No, he doesn't even look at me, is like I don't exist to him, so stop making things up"

"You're stubborn pretty face, why do you think he didn't came to training the other day?"

"Because he was too busy having fun with his fiancé?"

"Are you kidding? Annie called at three in the morning after my aunt went to sleep. Jack got into my room and found one of the bottles I got hidden in my drawers and got really drunk"

Crap! That boy was dumb as fuck! "That doesn't mean anything, he was celebration his commitment"

Kristie scoffed. "Really? Celebrating? Drinking a whole bottle of tequila by his own in the yard at three in the morning listening to Adele? Yeah! I bet he was really happy"

Jim blinked twice…No…It was a misunderstanding.

"You need more proves? Let's go back to the dinner, when we were taking our places"

"What about that?" Jim frowned.

"He asked you next to him, remember?"

Jim took a second to think about it. Yeah…He kind of recalled that… "Yeah but there still was the other chair" He was replying but she cut him off.

"No, Archie was already there" She said with a smirk. "Don't you see it? He was scared! He wanted you to sit with him, because that way he wouldn't have a chance to kneel before that slut, you were his last chance pretty face and you let him down, you didn't save him. You doomed him"

Jim swallowed hard…This…This had to be a mistake, no! She was wrong! He wanted to marry Beverly! Everyone saw that…

"Hey" It was his voice, stern and sharp. "We need to talk"

Jim's heart quivered and butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He looked up and saw Jack standing before him, but he wasn't looking at him.

His eyes were fixed on Kristie.

"Hey Jack!" She said happily while Jim shifted on his seat. "I can't talk right now, I'm kind of having a very important conversation with pretty face"

Jim stood almost instantly. "No, it's okay, I have to go anyway, I'll see you later" Hurried to say as he stood felling his heartbeat in the ears and strode out to head to the locker room and take his stuffs.

Kyle and some of the guys waved and him and said some things about what a stubborn bastard he was for enduring the coach's punishment for that long, but Jim wasn't listening, he might be in the locker room physically, but his mind was still in the bleachers, processing what Kristie told him. It was impossible, he couldn't have been Jack's last resource, because…Because if he was, that meant that Jim didn't save him.

If Jim was Jack's last resource, then he condemned him.

….

The news about my laptop spread like wildfire and now that I was kind of a mini celebrity in campus. People started to pat my back more often to show their sympathy, thought they were just the ones that knew about how important was Mr. Perry's final. The vast majority said that I was just trying to call everyone's attention because I just could buy a new one. It seems like, no matter what you do in your life there always will be people saying shit about you.

My first formal appearance was the Thursday afternoon for one of my finals, since it was written I still could do my best to keep my grades high. Many necks craned when I got into the classroom and the eyes of my classmates were on me the whole hour. I wonder what they were thinking, I bet most of them thought that I was going to losing it soon. Brandon and Smithy were part of the few that instead of feeling pity for me, didn't do anything to hide how happy they were and how hilarious they found my situation. I know what you thought, that Smithy was a poor victim of the world and me, bullshit. He was a Coder after all, they were my natural enemies and the thought that I wouldn't be able to present anything for Perry's class gave them the chance to be below the spotlight at least for once in their lives. Of course that wasn't going to happen, No, I wasn't planning to boycott them or anything, actually, I didn't have to do anything, their movie would destroy them by itself.

Yeah, just because I hit bottom and stuff didn't mean that I was going to become the frigging Jackson Whittemore. I lost and everything, but that didn't mean that suddenly I was going to start liking my enemies, some feuds are for life, like dogs and cats, and dogs and lizards, and dogs and other dogs…The funny thing is that…I like cats better.

I was the first finishing my final, which was very impressive considering that I only lasted twenty minutes. I bet that even Derek was jealous, you know how he was about exams and being the official dork of the class. It doesn't matter, I thought about waiting for him and then go to the movies or something, I didn't want to stay at my room dying of boredom and feeling sorry for me. I wasn't that Stiles anymore, and of course I didn't want him to concern about it. I'm sure he still didn't believe in my words when I said that I felt fine.

I stood outside of the door and a couple of girls I didn't know waved at me from the corner of the hallway and then I heard someone saying "Hey, that's the guy"

"The guy's from cinematography?"

"Yeah, that's him, I met him the other day in the theater"

"Wow, he is really short"

I looked down and held a chuckle.

"You look happy" I heard a voice said from my left. I cocked my head and found Allison smiling at me.

I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled at her.

"Do you wanna hang out? I just came out of a final and then least thing I want in the world is staying in this damn hallways"

I wrinkled my brow considering it and then nodded. "Wait, Derek must be on his way already" I said pointing with my thumb at my back.

"Wow! You beat Derek on who finishes early?" She arched a brow impressed and then her expression went gloomy. "Wait…Don't tell me that…"

"I answered all the questions mom, take it easy" I chuckled.

"Let's go, he will catchup with us later" She said putting a hand on my shoulder as we walked for the campus and headed to the smoothies store just a block away.

We got in and got our drinks to later sit in a booth next to the window, of course I had a déjà vu, but I didn't feel bad or anything, actually, I couldn't help cracking in laughs suddenly.

Allison looked at me with concern while she sipped from the straw of her strawberry smoothie. She took my hand and squeezed it tight. "He's concerned about you Stiles, remember what…."

"I know Allison" I cut her dry. "And I get your guys point and it is valid, but, you need to understand that this is a totally different situation" I bit my bottom lip. "I'm okay, I know that what I did was stupid and I wouldn't do it ever again, I'm not that person anymore. We will always have to live things we don't like and sometimes life might be a bit shitty but…I can't just go around and slash my wrist every time something goes wrong and you guys have to start trusting in me"

Allison looked at me shocked and then she smirked and stood. "I'm so proud of you" She affirmed making me stand to give me a hug.

"Is not a big deal, it's just something everyone should know" I said looking at the scars in my wrist when we let go. I made some mistakes in the past, but that didn't mean that I would do them again.

She nodded as she grabbed her smoothie and made me signs to follow her. "Let's get out, I need some sun or I'll end up in a twilight movie"

The sunrays hit my eyes when we swum the door of the store, and in that very moment I understood that my life was far from over, there were still a lot of things I could do and other ways to impress the world with my talent, I just needed to find them. It sucked that the project was over, but it wasn't the end of the world.

I smiled at her and we crossed the street.

"You have changed so much in matter of days" She pointed out when we were back in the campus.

"I guess I had to"

"No matter what, I want you to know that I truly believed in your idea Stiles, I think you could have done some great things, and it is sad that you couldn't finish it, have you think about starting it again?"

I shook my head smirking. "For what? Perry's finals is just five days away and I don't know if I want to see Kyle again"

"He keeps asking me about you" She said a little embarrassed.

Really? How…Nice.

"I told him that you were so down because you got very important projects in that laptop and he understood and said that he felt pretty bad for not being with you right now, but his work doesn't give him time to go out except for his exams"

"It's okay"

"Kristie and him are living together now, you know?" She said casually, but I…I don't know, I think I saw the shadow of something in her eyes and I couldn't tell what was it. Relief? Confusion?

"Well, I guess they are the perfect couple of after all" I joked.

Her eyes flickered. "Yeah…No, Kristie's aunt kicked her out of her house"

I opened my eyes wide. "What? Why?"

"Kyle wasn't very clear, but…He said something about having a fight because Jack was getting married"

What? Jack was getting married? Damn! I fall in a void for a couple of days and the world went upside down. I thought he broke up with his girlfriend. Why Jim didn't say anything?

I whistled. "Poor Kristie, Haven't you girls talk?" I asked politely, though part of me wanted to know how where things between them.

Allison looked away. "We…Hadn't talk much lately, she is busy trying to find a job. Her dad kind of disowned her"

Okay, this had to be another dimension. I mean, are you kidding me? Thank god I didn't vanish for a month as I used, or else I would have found the world conquered by Aliens.

Now seriously talking. I couldn't help noticing Allison's attitude when I mentioned Kristie, there was something going on there. That flicker in her eyes said so many things, but all of them were so hard to read and I just…Wanted the truth, to love them, to hate them, I don't know, just some clearness, some truth or something to keep me busy while I figured out my new life.

"Allison…I need to…." I started but…Derek showed up from somewhere.

"Hey! What are you doing? Don't tell me you're planning to kiss her again" He joked glaring at me with a funny face.

He was such an asshole, only Derek could make fun of something like that.

"No Derek, I'm not planning on stealing your girl" I rolled my eyes.

They kissed and I looked away feeling a little awkward and I found the betches approaching.

Freddy waved at me along with Liam and Cass came out of nowhere and rose me from behind.

"Cass! Let me go!" I said batting my legs as I laughed.

Some people looked at us as we were crazy, but we didn't pay attention.

"What are you doing here?" I asked fearing the answer.

"Char called us" Hip said with a smirk.

"Hey buddy!" I replied shocked, I didn't remember the last time I saw Hip. "How's everything?" I gave him a small punch in the arm in a brotherly way. "Did you reach your goal?"

All of us looked at him expectantly and Hip stared back with a blank expression, then, he parted his lips and spoke. "Fifty five, losers"

"Wow! That's a lot of jizz" Tim joked.

"Yeah, It's a shame you lost your project, I couldn't wait for my ass to be top trending in the world"

"Oh my god! You guys are disgusting!" Allison said laughing.

"Oh sweetie please, you know you feel sad because we're not straight and you can't have us" Liam teased.

We all exchanged looks and cracked in laughs.

Allison and Derek rolled their eyes amused and sauntered around talking about theirs stuffs.

I sat in one of the benches before the pond

"I'm so sorry sweetie" Liam said resting his head on my shoulder as we both stared at the shimmering shallow of the pond.

"It's okay, it was hard at the beginning, but I think I'm better now"

"Or, you can always use my latest clips to make a porn, I bet everyone in the theater will freak out if they see it"

I held a chuckle and keep looking ahead and then Tim spoke.

"Stiles…Are you sure you can't do anything?"

I shook my head. "Is dead guys, I tried to turn it on millions of times, even Derek took it to a store, but there hadn't been any response yet"

Liam sighed. "Oh sweetie, you should have called me, maybe I could have done something"

Crap! He was right, well, there was nothing we could do about it now.

"It's okay guys, I'm really fine, I promise"

"Well, what are you doing to do now?" Cass said putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I don't know" I replied sincerely. I was lost.

"Well" Freddy started sitting at my other side. "You can always make a reality show about your virginity. That would be really funny"

"Yeah!" Tim chuckled. "And make a casting about the guys who might take it and when you sent someone home you could give them dildos"

"It could be called Mother Stily" Cass suggested.

All of them cracked in laughs.

How's that my virginity always was the subject of their jokes? They were a bunch of bitches! Yeah…Well now you know why we called ourselves that way, we could make a joke of almost any sad situation, and…Well I had to admit that it was a little bit funny. I know what they were doing, they were trying to bring me back to reality, they didn't believe in my crap of peaceful and quiet Stily. They knew I didn't accept things that easily and were teasing me, they wanted me to get mad at them and shoot a movie about their crappy loves lives or something like it. That was the way things worked with us, we threw shit at each other to show our love.

I loved that bunch of losers, I hadn't realize how much I missed them, until that moment.

At the end I just joined their laughs and we saw the sunset mirrored in the pond, everything was fine somehow. The only thing that bugged me right then was…Why Jim wasn't there with us?

….

Nine hundred and seventy seven. This was it. Jim was so close he could almost feel his feathered bed beneath his soles. After that Thursday he would finally be free of the coach's stupid punishment. He couldn't believe how far he had come after all those days, it had been a pair of pretty hard weeks for him, but the end was finally close.

He couldn't get why, but…Since he heard Kristie's words they kept coming to his mind over and over again, and the idea of have caused a disgrace to Jack only made him want to run faster, he wanted to get to that point of not coming back, when you move so fast that you literally time travel. That's what the wished for now, to scape, to vanish and stop when the world was different, when he was older and wiser and most importantly when he didn't recall Jack at all. That way he wouldn't feel so guilty for what he had done, if Kristie was right of course.

The lasagna. Could it be right? That didn't make any sense, Mrs. Whittemore said that she made it for Jim, but…It was Jack's favorite, lasagna couldn't fit with that kind of dinner. Could Kristie be right? Could it mean that Mrs. Whittemore was trying to set up Jack to make him to her will?

Don't forget about the chair incident. That was a thing Jim couldn't deny. Jack asked for him to sit next to him and Archie was on the other side already, he wanted Jim next to him instead of Beverly, could he be trying to send a message? Yeah, even if Jim did sit with him he could ask Beverly any other moment but…The fact that he tried and that stare.

The whole day…Jack's eyes were saying something to Jim. Whispering things in a language he was incapable to speak. If he could only read eyes as good as Jack did he would understand? He thought that the stare was because he was afraid of getting hitched, but…No, he bored it even after saying those words, even after Jim let out what he got stuck in his chest, he still had something else to say. Something that was only for Jim to listen.

Adele? Really? Oh shit! Was Kristie right after all? She couldn't. She couldn't be right, because if she was…Then Jim would have hope, and if he had hope then…He might have ended up even more broken than what he already was, and it wasn't fair, and of course there still was the main reason why he let Jack go. He wasn't good for him, not in a millions, after all the things that Jim did in his life, he would deserve Jack's love, or could be a good match for him, he was a horrible person, he knew it deep inside but…He was trying, he wanted to be good, Jack made him feel like good things could happen even to people like him.

God! He needed sign! He needed something to tell him what to do! He just couldn't follow a heartbeat, because he might be wrong and…

"Taylor!" The coach's voice echoed suddenly.

Jim jerked almost instantly, tripped and rolled on the dirty as he heard loud laughs from all the middle of the field.

He stayed there facing the soil for almost a whole minute until he gathered enough strength and kneeled to later stand up.

"Yeah coach?" He asked ignoring the amused look of the guys in the team.

"Come here" The man shouted.

Jim sighed and gave a quick jog toward the man catching his breath.

"I want you to replace Chad, he twisted his ankle" The man explained pointing at Chad who was sitting in the bleachers grimacing at his feet.

Jim wrinkled his brow and swallowed. "But coach…I almost finish my laps, I think I can do it today" He replied with tiredness in his voice.

"What are you saying?" The man asked with a mocking grin. "You finished them two days ago"

Jim shook his head. "No, I still need to…"

"You reached the thousand two days ago Taylor, right now you're on a thousand and a hundred and thirty nine"

Jim's stomach plunged down. That was impossible "No" He said more for him than anyone else.

"I've been counting each of them, boy, believe me"

Oh crap! "Then…Then why…?"

"I wanted to see how far you could go, and I must say that I'm pretty impressed, I was looking for commitment and now I see that you're really committed to the team"

What the fuck? What the hell was wrong with that sucker? Argh! Jim hated him! And hated himself for being so stupid to not notice that he had reached his goal that fast.

"You did well, I just don't get how you lost your own count. You seem distracted, is everything okay?"

Everyone burst in laughs and Jim chugged glaring at them and then stopping short after finding out that Jack's eyes were on him too but he quickly looked away.

Jim's heart lurched and he swallowed nodding. "I'm fine"

"Great, then take Chad's place on Jack's team, there are still fifteen minutes left"

Jack's team. Great, just what he needed.

Jim took off his shirt and walked to the side of the bare chests.

The coach blew his whistle again and everything started. Jim was running again, he could notice now how swift his legs moved. He took the ball from Aidan's feet who didn't even see what happened. He almost cracked in laughs.

"Here!" Garret called him.

Jim passed the ball to him, the boy shoot, but Kev was fast and caught it.

"Well done Gar" He heard Jack said patting Garret's back and suddenly he felt cold.

It didn't matter though, he made something that could have been impossible for him a month ago, he moved like a pro. He was exhausted, his legs where killing him, but he wanted more. He could do this.

Paul had the ball for half a second, because Jim once again was controlling it.

"I'm here" Garret called again, Jim gave to him, but Aidan came out of nowhere, Jack lunged to him. Aidan tried to take out of his reach and looked for one of his team mates, but all of them were blocked for Jim's mates.

Jack took the ball, Kyle got in the middle. Jack tried to shoot but Paul blocked. Instead to aiming the goal he threw the ball at Jim. Taken aback Jim spun with Aidan right behind him. He dribbled and slid the ball between Aidan's legs, he heard a lot of laughs because he just humiliated him. He smirked and looked around, now everyone went after him. Garret was blocked and so were the rest of his team, his last choice was…

Jim kicked the ball toward Jack. Kyle came after him, he gasped and recoiled. Kyle attacked even harder, it wouldn't last any longer. Jim ran to the goal where Aidan and Paul awaited already. Jack kept fighting, but it didn't matter, everyone knew that Kyle could handle him. He wouldn't stand a chance.

Jim's face went to his right and then at his left, when he look at Jack again the ball was already flying to his head. Without thinking twice he head butted it.

He heard the whistle. It was the first time Jack's team beat Kyle's in two weeks.

Oh god! He did it! Jim did it! He won the game! He beat Kyle and Aidan even Paul's ego. That feeling was great! He felt so powerful. The guys ran to him, led by Garret and Chad who limped toward them. Jack jumped excited next to him and patted him in the back and they laughed and laughed and hugged and then they met their eyes.

It lasted a second or maybe three millions of them. Jim couldn't tell, time stopped for both of them and beyond joy and happiness and even farther in the disappointment and sadness he saw an ephemeral and blinding flicker, the voice of a thousand words unspoken. Jack still had something to say.

And now Jim knew that he had them too.

"That's all for today" The coach announced and the time started moving again.

Jack and Jim blinked and awkwardly, they broke off.

He was trudging to the locker room when the coach stopped him.

"Are you alright Taylor?" The man asked as he wrinkled his brow and his mustache.

Jim nodded catching his breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I'm just tired"

"You look pretty bad" The man affirmed.

"I'm fine coach, I promise"

The man chugged. "Great" He patted Jim's back. "Still, I think I've been too rough with you boy, I must admit that I should have stopped you the moment you finished, but the hours passed and you kept running"

He was expecting for Jim to say something, but what he could say? I got a crush for the captain, when I shouldn't because I was supposed to destroy him and plus because he is straight and wouldn't love me back, but I'm not so sure now because his stupid cousin has been saying shit to me? Nah! The man wouldn't understand that.

Jim just stayed silent.

"Are you classes okay?"

"Yeah, actually I'm doing great"

"You're in engineering" The man pointed out.

"So what?"

"Shouldn't it be elemental for you kids to know how to count?"

Crap!

"Look coach…"

"I'm kidding, I get it, you got lost in your thoughts, that's the good thing about running, sometimes you get to places you didn't know even existed"

Jim smirked.

"Go"

Jim nodded and made his way toward the locker room.

"Oh and Taylor, you're free of training tomorrow, but I want to see your butt at first hour on Saturday morning!"

Jim scoffed and said goodbye to the guys that were already leaving.

When he got inside, he got his duffel bag and put it on his shoulder while Garret said goodbye to Jack and him and left.

They were alone. A wave of panic took over him, amazing isn't it? How James self-centered Taylor could fall to the point of being hanged by his emotions for just being left alone with his Jacky.

Jack didn't look at him, he just kept gathering his stuffs and Jim wouldn't stop thinking and thinking, what he was going to do? Was true what Kristie said? Shit! Why everything had to be so complicated? Why Jack wouldn't just tell him whatever he wanted to say? Why he couldn't do it himself either?

_This isn't you betch! You're pathetic, be a man_. He thought swallowing hard.

Jack took his bag and went to the door.

Jim grabbed him by the forearm. "Wait" He muttered.

Jack yanked his arm back and glared at Jim. This was it, if Jack didn't give him at least a little sign Jim would…

"What do you want? Is there something you forgot to mock about the other day?"

Jim shook his head. "It's not that, look I…"

"Jackson! I've been waiting for hours!"

Of course! It wouldn't be Jim's life without Mrs. Whittemore getting in the middle as always.

"Oh James!" She said excited.

Oh James? What about…Oh James the mother fucker who made my baby feel bad? Why in the hell Jack didn't tell her the truth?

"Hey Mrs. Whittemore" Said Jim hiding his bewilderment and replacing it with a smirk.

"I'm so glad to see you, I wanted to talk to you" She said with her usual singsong voice as she pursed her lips.

"What can I do for you?" Jim asked embarrassed.

"Nothing, you have done enough" Jack hurried to reply sharply, though Mrs. Whittemore didn't seem to notice, because just nodded at Jack and then looked back at Jim.

"I wanted to apologize for Kristie's behavior, it must have been so uncomfortable for you to listen such amount of lies together, and I'm sorry for myself too, you didn't have why to…."

Jim shook his head. "It's okay Mrs. Whittemore, I promise, actually I'm happy you hadn't see my brother's arguing"

"I'm sure they can't be as bad as…"

"They are worst" Jim chuckled.

The woman giggled and then breathed out happily. "I'm glad we sorted this misunderstanding, you're such a lovely boy" She said squeezing Jim's cheek with her bony hands.

Jim nodded.

"Well Jackson, it's time to go, I still hadn't figure out what I'm doing for…Wait, Did I interrupted your conversation?"

Jack shook his head. "No mom, we already said everything"

"Are you sure?" She asked frowning at both of them.

"Yeah go" Jim smirked hiding his sadness. "I'll see you later Jacky, bye Mrs. Whittemore"

"See you later Jimmy" Jack shot back with despise.

"Goodbye James" The woman said cheerful kissing his cheek. "I hope next time we have dinner, everything ends up in a better way"

"I bet it will" Jim chuckled and saw them leave.

Crap! Why Jack didn't tell the truth to his mom? Why he had to make things too complicated for Jim always? Now, he really didn't know what the hell he was going to do.

….

The betches didn't believe me. It didn't matter how much I tried to convince them that everything was fine. They wouldn't buy it. Hell that they were stubborn. Anyway, that Friday afternoon Tim and Freddy called at least thirty times to ask me to join them for Cass and Liam's big night. Do you remember? The drag queen's beauty contest, the opening night of the new gay club in town and of course…Cass' debut as Dj. Those were major events, it would be the beginning of something big for both of them and…I was there in my room. I got a text from Kyle telling me that he was going out for some event and asked me if I wanted to join him, but I said I was sick. It wasn't a pity party I swear. I just wanted some time for myself, and play stupid games on my phone, was that asking too much? Why no one believed me when I said that I was fine?

The betches wouldn't gave up that easily though.

Derek kept frowning at his laptop time to time and I couldn't help wondering what he was doing, I mean, it was Friday night, he could hang out with Allison since she got a free night but…He was pretty busy with whatever he was doing and every time I stretched my neck to peer he absently backed on his butt in the quilt. That's when the door stormed open.

"Hey betches" If my life were a TV show, this would be the part in which the public would clap at Jim's appearance.

I rolled my eyes and pressed my lips in a thin line. He got to be kidding me. I didn't know anything about him in weeks and now he just showed up as if nothing happened? He didn't even look sad for me, he looked as the bitch he always was. Of course I didn't know that he was dying deep inside.

"What do you want Jimmy?" I said bitterly as I pretended to check my phone.

"I came to drag your ass out of this shit hole" He said with his usual haughtily voice.

Derek detached his eyes from the screen and glared at him.

"No offense"

"Yeah, right" Derek scoffed and came back to his laptop.

"I'm not going Jim, I'm not in the mood for party"

"Weren't you supposed to be in your guru mode or whatever? That's what those liars betches said"

I chugged. "So what? Just because I don't want to go to a shallow opening night of a club I'm down now?"

Jim took a minute to think and then chuckled. "Wow! You're right bitch, we have been so careless, of course you are better, now get your butt out of that bed and…"

"Where the hell happened to you?" I asked angrily.

"To me?" He wrinkled a brow.

"You vanished! I didn't get any news from you in a while and even after I lost everything you show up a week afterwards"

"I didn't know that your crappy computer passed, I'll get you a new one if you want"

I balled my hands and Derek shifted on his seat. "It isn't about the laptop, betch, you have been acting weird since I told you might be falling for Jack"

Jim scoffed. "Again with that shit?"

"Yeah, again with that shit, you never showed any new videos and Allison told me that Jack is getting married, what the hell happened?"

I could see that he held a jolt when he heard those words but he quickly took control of his body. "Nothing. It's been a while since the last time I saw Jacky, I don't know betch, your project seemed like a good idea and everything but…I kind of grew tired after a while"

Oh he was such a good liar.

"Oh! So you were planning to let me down uh?" I grunted.

He hesitated and shook his head. "Of course not. I just got a lot to do, betch, I have my classes too remember? Engineering isn't the easiest career of all, I almost failed a couple of exams this week and I'm sorry if I didn't call you and told you how much sorry I felt for you but I just found out, no one cared to tell me what happened to you"

I gasped and came back to my phone.

"Now get your butt out of that bed or I'm dragging you to my car"

"I'm not going! I told you! I'm fine! You guys don't need this so elaborated excuse to just keep me busy from thinking about what happened!"

Jim laughed hard. "Oh betch please! You're right, you're fine. I see you're so fine that you're still selfish enough to only think about feeling sorry for yourself while Rupaul and Cassie are dying of nervousness for their big night waiting for their best friend to go there and support them as much as they supported you the past six months"

"You got to admit that Jimmy got a point" Derek said suddenly looking at both of us through his glasses with an arched brow.

Oh crap! You know? Jim was such a stubborn and evil bitch! I can't believe how strong he was, I mean, after all the things that he lived the past days, he still was brave enough to keep moving, to be himself and show me how wrong I was. He was strong enough to let go Jack and forget about him just to be there for his friends, included me.

I sighed defeated. "All right, I'll go"

I stood and went to my dresser to snatch some clothes. "Aren't you coming?" I asked Derek while I picked a T-shirt and a tight pant of the ones Cass chose for me long ago.

"No" Said Derek with a smirk. "I still got a lot to do for Perry's final"

Ouch! That was a low blow.

"But you guys go and say good luck to Liam and Cass for me"

I know what he was doing. He was giving me freedom to reconnect with myself, to be a betch again and forget about that whole situation. I owed so much to that dork.

"Alright, I'll take a bath and we will go" I said taking my towel and heading to the showers.

An hour later we were in the car as Jim drove toward the club yelling at me because we were going to be late. The club was in Maddison Street, in a pretty crowded part of the city full of bars and clubs, actually there were four straight clubs in there, two bars, a hipster coffee store with a bunch of people outside, and a Starbucks for the morning's hangovers.

The parking lot was behind an alley that took to Abby square. The place to where I followed Kyle when the amusement park was in the city.

We climbed down of the car and Jim made me signs to hurry up before we missed the opening. Just look at him, he was pretty concerned about not disappointing Liam, it was like a new person right next to me. We ran and hell, I'm not the best jogger, so…He wouldn't stop telling me how I needed to write less and run more. Yeah…That's wasn't going to happen any time soon.

When we took the curve in the alley, found lines and lines of people outside the clubs awaiting for their chance to get in.

We addressed the bouncer of the one with the largest line while we heard mocks coming from the other clubs, people was saying things about fairies and that shit.

We ignored them and looked at the welt built man with the menacing arms at the door. Above him was a sign with neon lights. It read "_Queens"_ in pink and _"Night club"_ in yellow. It looked so fashion and pop that I couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad feeling, but for a moment I forgot about everything and let things get a little loose.

Jim gave a handful of bills to the bouncer to let us in first while the people in the line started complaining, and also had to give him some extra to convince him that my ID wasn't fake. Idiot.

He opened the doors for us and we found ourselves walking straight into a void. It was pitch dark insane and you couldn't hear a noise. It was a little overwhelming and I would have believed that I was inside the theater again if it wasn't for the bodies we ran into while we got inside. The place was full and silent. Oh god! I just hopped none was planning to do one of those infamous flashmobs, if you think I was a crappy dancer…Try to add the surprise element to that and a pretty confusing choreography and the embarrassment of being the only one who doesn't know what the hell to do.

Very far ahead, we could see a spot of light in a high surface that made it look like a stage, but it was so distant that I couldn't help feel amazed for how big that place was.

I sighed and I heard that Jim did the same next to me, we were losing our patience, why no one was…?

A loud boom cut the unsettling quietness and I shuddered as lights exploded and music came like a blast right to us, making me feel uneasy, shocked and alive.

That moron Cass almost gave a heart attack! Oh my god! That moron Cass almost gave me a heart attack! Do you hear that? My friend did that!

People cheered and then her heard claps of hands. I jerked my head to the stage and saw a shape walking in a long platform as a spotlight followed her silhouette. A voice that came from the speakers in the ceiling said her name. She was Alisha, wore a dark blue dress, though from my position I couldn't make anything out and it looked like Jim was coming through the same, because he suddenly took my arm and started pushing people aside to take us to the stage.

Another two girls came now marching and making spins that the crowd applauded, those were Miracle Monroe and Monica Tension. Right after that the music became louder and more electronic with pretty nasty and sticky lyrics.

Jim and I kept pushing while Devine Chan, Charlamaine and Fiera showed up and the crowd went mad.

I saw a shadow moving up at the left and found Cass' unmistakable outline moving his arms at high speed behind a large metallic square. I smiled, I couldn't believe that this was actually happening. I was so happy Jim brought me.

Jim tugged of my arm harder and we kept moving while the host of the show called Shaneleslie, Leslie, Sunshine and…

My heart gave a lurch and I slid between the two guys in front of me amazed.

Liam, I mean, Sunshine. Walked in like a real bad girl, with high and pointy heels, a red long dress made of sequin with a short leather jacket zipped down to show a pair of boobs. There were yellow feathers in the hem of the jacket that matched the golden necklace she wore. Her wig fell in cascades, first in her cheeks, then on her shoulders and finally ended in her back.

She made a half spin and stopped to give a blatant look.

"Liam!" I shouted aloud.

Sunshine snapped, gave me a crooked smile with her now actually painted red lips and then she winked.

"Stily!" I heard Tim's voice saying from above the uproar of the crowd.

I found him coming over accompanied by Hip.

"Stily! I thought you weren't coming" Tim said excited as he patted my shoulder and smiled.

"Yeah, I changed my mind in the last minute"

"I changed his mind in the last minute" Jim corrected me.

I glared at him while the host presented new five girls and Tim pulled of my arm.

"Where are we going?" Jim asked as he followed us.

"We're going to see Liam, he needs to see that you guys came after all, he has been acting as a drama queen the whole day"

Jim and I exchanged glances and chuckled.

We kept walking inside sea of flesh and hormones when I heard Jim grunt at me back.

"Hey! Did you just grabbed my balls?" He asked angrily.

Tim and I stopped short and craned our necks. Next to Jim was a tall guy with a mischievous look in his eyes. He nodded in a mockingly way and grabbed Jim's crotch again.

"I'll see you guys later" Jim said without even looking at us as he licked his lips.

I rolled my eyes and gave a sidelong look to Tim who made me signs from a door at my right. He opened and Hip and I came in. Do you know those fashion shows where you always see half naked girls running from a way to other yelling things and holding their hair as it was on fire? Well, we were in one of those places. Here and there you saw Drag Queens hurrying to retouch their makeup, get dress, take a look at their hair in the mirror, and then was Liam…

Weeping in a corner.

"Liam!" I said preoccupied as he took off his wig. "What happened?"

"Nothing! I just…" He sobbed and let out a laugh. "Did you see the way they looked at me?"

I frowned.

"Come on! They went mad when you came out! You are the favorite!" Tim affirmed and Hip and I nodded.

"I know! It was fantastic!" He said thrilled. "I'm crying of happiness!" He screeched with a big smile. "I can't believe how exciting it was"

"Stop crying!" I heard Freddy saying angrily. "You're ruining your makeup"

"I can't stop" Liam whined. "Everything is so perfect"

"Oh god! You're such a drama queen, I bet you will win" Hip joked giving him a soft punch in the arm.

"Hey boys!" A voice said as a door closed from our backs.

"Hey Mr. and Mrs. Brooks" We said as they approached.

"Did you see that baby? You're going to win!" Liam's mom said shuddering with joy.

"She is right, now stop crying, we have no time to apply the make up again" Freddy said bossily.

Liam jerked and stopped sobbing almost instantly.

"What's up now?" The father asked looking through the door.

"The bikini contest" Freddy explained as he drew a two parts red bikini from a bag and put it on Liam's lap.

I looked around and noticed that the other contenders were already wearing theirs.

"Hurry up!" I urged him. "You're gonna be late"

Liam jolted took the bikini and ran toward the door at our left what I supposed was a bathroom.

"Wow! He is pretty nervous, ins't he?" I pointed out with a smirk.

"Hey Tim! I finally got the drinks, it was a total mess back then when…"

I knew that voice!

I turned and…. Hell! I was face to face with…One of the twins, but which one?

….

Jim and his boy made their way between the people, holding hands and kissing their necks while people ignored them. He kept looking for the magical door that would bring him back to be himself. He knew that he still had unresolved issues with Jack, and he felt pretty bad for doing this but…It wasn't like he was cheating on Jack. Jack wasn't his, even if he really had feelings for Jim as Kristie said, he was marrying Kristie and he still was her boyfriend, so Jim had the right to mess up with anyone he wanted.

They turned on the lights and transformed the stage in a beach or something like, now that everything was lit, he could see how large that place was and hell that it was, also it was a kind of disco club. All its surfaces were covered with bright panels which colors changed every time someone touched them or stepped on them. Imagine if they would have shoot Grease inside of that place. Wow! People would have got chills watching it. Ha! Chills!

"Fuck!" Jim grumbled. "Where is the dark room in this place?"

His guy bit his ear and Jim shivered.

"Don't you know?" Asked looking at him.

The guy squinted at him with his bright blue eyes. Jim looked at his broad arms and well-built chest…He was so handsome.

"I think they don't have one" He muttered at Jim's ear.

Jim squatted and tripped with a guy who started yelling at him.

"Maybe we should go to a hotel room" Suggested.

The guy pondered the idea and then the host of the show spoke aloud.

"Now…Get ready everyone, is making hot in here and our girls are going to show us their summer gear!"

Everyone started applauding. Crap! He forgot about Liam, he would kill Jim he doesn't see him there.

"Wait…I wanna see the show"

"Or I could take you to the place I'm renting" The guy suggested. Jim took him by the neck to make him look down and stare at him straight in the eye.

What pair of beautiful jewels he got up there. "Maybe" Jim smirked and then focused on the show.

….

"You're friends with Tim?" The twin said shocked.

"Craig I…" Tim started taken by surprise but then he quickly snapped. "Meet my friends, Stiles and Matt"

I blinked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I grumbled.

Tim looked at me and then at Craig? Well, I don't what I expected his name to be, but Craig definitely wasn't on my list.

"Time's up ladies" Someone said getting into the room and we all exchanged glances.

"Liam hurry up!" Freddy demanded.

"I'm coming!"

"I… I don't…" Craig started dumbfounded.

"Time's up!"

I heard the host's voice booming at the other side of the door.

"Let's go" Hip said taking me by the arm out of the room.

"Wait…" Craig called but I ignored him.

Once we were back into the crowd I balled my hands. I couldn't believe that Tim brought that asshole to make fun of us! What the hell was he thinking? That was treason!

"Our first contender loves…" The host was saying, but I couldn't focus, that moron's face kept coming to my mind, shit I was so mad!

"Hey" His voice muttered next to me and I rolled my eyes. "I didn't know…"

"That I was coming? Don't worry; if I knew you would be here, I wouldn't have come either"

He ignored me.

"I can't believe you're friends with Tim"

I scoffed. "I can't believe you're friends with him considering…"

"Jesus! Could you just let it go?" He grunted furious. "I tried the other day to explain you that I felt really sorry for what we did to you"

"You think it's easy? Every time I think things are getting better I ran into one of you"

He chugged. "Look man, I'm really sorry, I know the person I was and I don't feel proud of what I did to you, I'm just…"

And then I gaped in realization. "You're screwing Tim!"

"What? No!" He hurried to contradict.

"Get a room!" Someone yelled at us.

Yeah right! Of course that I was getting a room with that asshole! But to play to the jigsaw killer with him.

Craig looked around frightened, trying to find the person who said that.

I sighed. "Could you just please let me watch my friend's show? He is on the contest and I don't want to miss it"

"I came to see him too, Tim told me how important was this for him and his friends and I…"

"And you wanted to be part of it?" I snorted. "What? You're gay now?" Where the hell was Tim anyway?

He took me by the throat with one single hand as his eyes shone with fire.

"Hey! Careful" Hip threatened.

Craig let me go at once and then his expression changed. "I…I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to…"

I swallowed touching my trout with the tips of my fingers. "See? This is the reason why I can't just forgive you, you don't feel sorry or regret what you did to me, you hate me, and you just want to make the right thing just because Tim is your friend, but in the end you're like the rest of the straight guys"

"I'm really sorry Stiles" He embarrassed. "I didn't mean to, any of this"

"Yeah, whatever" I said rolling my eyes as I walked away from him to reach the stage and see the moment Liam came out with his…

Shit! It was over! That quick? I missed because of that asshole! I wanted to see how Liam looked in bikini! That wasn't fair. Just another reason to hate Moron, I mean, Craig.

"Wait, I want to ask you something" He showed up again.

Seriously? "What?" I arched a brow.

He fidgeted with his thumbs and then grimaced. "How… You knew?"

"How I knew what?"

"You know…" He started. "How did you know you were…_Gay?_"

I gaped. "You're gay now?" Okay, this was kind of bitch of me but…Remember what he did to me! I was down! Bellow earth! He mocked of me as if I didn't have feelings at all, he didn't matter.

He shook his head frantically. "No! I…I… I just want to know why you decided to be gay"

"Decided?" I couldn't believe him. "Oh you know, I just woke up one morning and said 'Hey you know what? I want the whole world to hate and that a bunch of mother fuckers make fun of me in a video for no reason'"

He looked down.

I sighed and looked at with pity. "You can't become gay okay?"

He looked up now and our eyes met, he really meant what he said.

"You just… Born this way"

He hesitated. "But…If for example, and I'm not saying that… I'm you know or anything…But if you born that way, what happens with twins?"

I frowned thoughtfully. Wow! That was a pretty interesting question. "I… I don't know actually, maybe they both born gay, or I don't know maybe one could be straight and one gay, I'm not sure, I'm not friend with any twins, can you leave me now watch the show?"

He looked down embarrassed. "Okay, but please…Don't tell Swin that I came here, okay? I just…"

Oh my god! Why he couldn't just ask those things to Tim? "Look, I have to go okay? The talent show is about to start and I want to whish Liam good luck"

"I'll go with you"

"Whatever"

I crossed the room, opened the door and I found the place just as I left it. Drag queens coming from here to there at high speed, putting on necklaces, heels, eyelashes, just pick a garment and you will spot one of them working on it.

"Hey!" I called at Liam was back to the group. "Are you ready?"

Liam turned slowly and… HOLY FLYING SCRIPTS!

"Liam…" I said openmouthed, and I wasn't the only one.

"You look like…" Hip was saying.

Freddy and Liam nodded. "It took us a lot of hard work to make a dress like hers, especially because of the cloak. That was a tricky bitch"

"So…." I swallowed. "You're singing let it go?" I asked in a whisper.

Liam nodded. "Think about it, that's the perfect song for freedom and express who you truly are deep inside, it's the perfect song for the community! No one will be expecting it"

Yeah! Now that he said it I could see it! That song talked about how hard is to be different and don't accept yourself, but how things could change and turn beautiful one you embrace your true self and let it be free.

"Shaneleslie, you're up" Someone said from the door and the host said the name aloud at the other side of the room.

We all exchanged looks with Liam.

"So?" He said smiling uneasy. "Do I look pretty?"

"Are you kidding? You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen" His dad said hugging him.

We all hugged Liam while Shaneleslie finished her act, whatever it was; the guy at the door called the next one and announced that after eight more girls it was Liam's moment.

"Wish me look betches!'" He said happily as he made a spin in his light blue dress.

"Good luck!" We said and came out to see the rest of the contenders.

Liam wasn't just right! He was a frigging genius! See, drag queen's most common talent was singing and all of them thought that it was a good idea to sing, so… They all sang, and even when they made us smile and laugh singing I'll will survive by Gloria Gaynor, it kind of felt boring after the fourth act, one sang Sweet Travesty from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, what a great idea, another girl performed I will always love you by Whitney Huston and gave us chills with her stunning voice. Damn they were good, but there was something they didn't have that Liam did. The surprise element, all of them did the classics and that's why Liam was going to shine when he came out and…

"And now! An ice queen will freeze your hearts with a spell, and melt it with her voice" The host announced.

I shivered excited, this was his moment… All his hard work would be resumed to this, right after they heard him sing Let it go, he would got it in the bag.

I craned my neck to Cass behind his Dj stand and smiled when suddenly the piano started playing and the crowd awed taken by surprise.

I looked at the stage with a smile on my face, but it wasn't Liam who was standing on it.

….

Okay this thing was stretching too much, when Jim saw that they were singing Let it go, he understood that soon all the queens would be tearing each other's throats to get that crown. He felt a little bad because he still hadn't talk to Liam and he knew how that bitch liked to overreact. In other hand, his guy was starting to look anxious and looked around bored, as if he was considering finding someone else to have fun and Jim couldn't afford that. It had been a while since the last time he had sex and come on he missed it, as any person would miss it after months and months of not doing it. Point for me, you can't miss what you never had.

"Hey" The guy muttered at his ear.

Jim shivered and looked up.

"I think we should go now"

Jim hesitated, he didn't want to leave without talking to Liam first, but…There was something weird about this guy that made him feel alive and anxious, there was something in his eyes, in the way his golden hair was disheveled in a cool way that made him want to go with him right then.

"How far is your room?" Jim asked hoping it was that far so he could come back in an hour or two to see the crowning ceremony.

"Its just a couple of blocks away, we can go on foot" He assured sliding his tongue into Jim's ear.

He squirmed and giggled. Okay, he liked this guy too much.

"Alright, let's go" He nodded feeling his heart rate increasing by his statement.

The guy curled his fingers around Jim's and pulled of him to find their way out of the crowd and the club. Jim just hoped that they could come back at time before the betches realized that he was gone. People looked at them as if they were crazy for leaving and other glared at them when they asked them politely to move to the side.

When they reached the door Jim felt a hand on his forearm.

"Betch where you going?" Asked Tim accompanied by a guy that seemed familiar for Jim. It was just Craig but Jim got a pretty bad memory, anyway, he glowered when Tim stopped him.

"What do you want?" Jim arched a brow.

"We have a problem and Liam needs you right now" Tim explained pulling harder of him.

Jim looked at his right where his ticket to come back to be the old Jim awaited and then at his left where a life of celibate awaited to curse him forever.

"Go with your friends" The guy affirmed with a grin, though Jim could see some irony in his eyes, he wasn't saying _"its fine, I'll wait"_ but _"I can find someone else anytime I want"_ Jim felt so hurt suddenly. But why? He knew that was just casual sex, it wasn't like that moron and him would fall for each other suddenly while they slept together.

Jim let go of the guy and followed Tim back to the mass of people while the drag Queen singing let it go reached the middle of the song.

"What happened bitch? Didn't you see I was busy?" Jim grunted as he followed Tim who pushed people like savage on his way to the changing room.

"Liam's song, he was singing Let it go too!" Tim explained with desperation in his voice. "He is crying right now, he thought he would have chance to win, but now everyone will think he just stole the idea"

"So what? Anyone else could have slapped him for me" Jim replied sharply.

"We don't want you to slap him, you have style Jimmy. You can help him find something as good as let it go that suits him"

"Are you kidding? Do I look like Tyra Banks to you?" Jim rolled his eyes.

"Who was that guy by the guy? He was hot" Tim asked casually right when they were reaching the door.

"Just someone I met tonight" Jim said coolly.

"He looked just like Jacky" Tim said thoughtful and Jim stopped short.

What the hell? That had to be a joke! He didn't look like Jack at all! Okay, he was going to choke Tim to death after slapping Liam, those bitches were ruining his life.

They stormed in and found Liam weeping on a chair surrounded by the rest of us. Jim threw me a look of "_Do something"_.

"Get your ass out of that chair betch and get ready" Jim ordered.

Liam didn't even bother to look at him.

"Sunshine you're up" A guy said from the door.

"I can't go out there when she just sang that song, I'll look like an idiot"

"You will look like an idiot if you throw all your hard work away because of a stupid song!" Jim yelled.

The rest of the girls in the room looked at him as if he was crazy.

I grabbed Jim by the arm and took him a little bit away from the rest. "What are you doing? You're just making him feel worse" I said angrily.

"Grow up betch, he can't just give up, he was doing fine, everyone love his bikini parade, people are betting he will win"

"Yeah, but how…How is he going to win now that he lost the chance to stun everyone with the song?"

"Can't he just pick another stupid song?" Jim rolled his eyes.

"That's the problem, they already did all the best numbers!" I grunted.

"Those songs?" Jim scoffed. "They are just a bunch a queens' songs, it's always the same, why they don't…?"

Jim's got it now! He knew how he was going to save Liam and help him win that crown. He moved quickly, we had no time after all.

"Timmy call Cassie and tell that there will be a change in Liam's song"

"What? What are you talking about?" Liam said shocked as he stood.

"There is no time betch, change those clothes" He hurried him.

"I only have the gown left" He explained drying his cheeks.

"Crap! Now I'll have to do the makeup again" Freddy cursed.

"Jimmy, Cass asking the name of the song" Tim said.

"Don't call me Jimmy betch, and let me think"

Jim looked around, he got a bunch of songs in mind but he couldn't concentrate. Which could be the best one for Liam?

"Beyoncé, let the makeup that way"

"What? Are you…?"

"Ladies! Ladies!" Jim called aloud and all the drag's eyes focused on him. "I'll need seven pairs of heels borrowed, do you think you can help?"

"What about Liam's outfit?"

"Sunshine they are waiting!"

"Just a second!"

All the eyes were on Jim, what could Liam wear?

"The white pants you were wearing this afternoon, you brought them?"

Liam nodded.

"The pants, the jacket zipped up, the heels, leave the smeared make up and take off that wig"

"Are you crazy?" Everyone protested.

"He won't look like a queen but a drowned rat!" Freddy growled.

Jim smirked pleased and then the rest of the contenders gave him their heels.

"No, we will look awesome"

"The name of the song Jimmy!" Tim said losing his patience.

"Grid" Jim let out with a smirk and we all looked at him shocked. Now he understood his plan.

….

"No! No! No!" I said trying to let go from Hip's grip.

"Come one Stily!" Tim said a bit angry. "This is for Liam"

I shook my head. "I didn't sign for this when you offered me your friendship, betches"

"You won't have to do Drag" Hip reminded me.

"It's not about doing drag betch! It's about me being on that stage"

"Move your asses! Liam's on the stage already!" Jim said furious as at the distant I could hear the unmistakable intro of Grid booming.

Jim choose wisely the song. In case you have been living under a rock, Grid is the seventh song in the album Too bright by Perfume Genius. Liam introduced us into his music a year and a half ago and I have to say Stiles Hadreas was crazy in a pretty twisted and awesome day, and of course he was, his name was Stiles after all. Anyway, I understood Jim's plan. He wanted to show a more human and vulnerable version of a Drag Queen, nothing ever seen before. Who they are when they are below the stage, when they are not queens anymore, but still…They keep being fabulous.

I heard Liam's voice echoing on the walls and my heart lurched.

"It's almost time, betch" Jim said looking at me sternly. "Are you with us? Or your stage fright will keep you from helping your friends?"

Great! Emotional blackmail. I nodded.

"Wait" Hip said shoving a hands on his pockets. "Use my camera, I want to record this"

He pinned it in my chest and let me go to put on my heels. You know? I can officially confirm that women, Drag Queens and transgender girls are crazy, I mean, what the hell are they thinking every time they put on one of those stuffs? They were uncomfortable, they made you feel as if you were about fall from a cliff and after walking two steps you feel as if you ran a marathon. Someone should forbid their sale.

"It's time" Tim called coming from the door that took straight to the stage. "Let's go"

I followed Jim tumbling on my new red heels to behind the curtain while Tim made signs to the guy that controlled it. I could see the lights and silhouettes behind the red fabric, it was time. Oh god! There were millions of butterflies on my belly.

I looked at my right and…

"What the fuck is he doing here?" I asked Jim while I pointed at Craig.

"Cass can't help us" Jim explained from the other side.

I looked at Craig, he looked even more frightened than me, but for different reasons. While I struggled with the fact of being below the spotlight, he fought with the idea of people thinking about him as gay. Maybe it could be a silly thing for me, but…If he really was going through it, it was a major moment in his life.

"The six of us can do it just fine, take a look at him, he seems like he's going to pass out any time soon" I pointed out.

"We must be seven" Jim said sternly.

"Why?" Tim frowned interested.

"That is the seventh song of the disc and Stiles used other six guys in the video to make seven with him"

"So what?" I chuckled.

"Seven is a powerful number betch, it brings good luck"

And hell that we needed luck, because as soon as he said those words the guy at the bottom unveiled the curtain and the lights hit my eyes blinding me for a second as all the betches sang the chorus of the song aloud. It was something raw and frightening. In the original version of the song girls made the chorus, this time we created the contrast with our deep voice while Liam's was high pitched and since our part was mostly screams of panic, well! The result was explosive.

Craig didn't do anything of course. He didn't know anything about Perfume Genius and just focused on following us while we walked around Liam describing a circle singing aloud the scary screams.

When we were over the crowd went mad, it was something new and amazing, we weren't showing vulnerability, but power, as Stiles Hadreas once said, people tend to believe that fem was a synonym of weak, but he showed that it was quite the opposite, it was strength.

An hour later two famous Drag Queens from the state came from behind a desk I know was next to the bar, they came accompanied by two guys that looked like stylist and designers. And after a thrilling a scary ceremony the crown ended on Sunshine's head.

We lost our minds, even Cass left his work for half of a minute and while the lights flickered from all directions dazing us as we jumped hugging Liam and the judges struggled with us to him the band that read. _"Queen of Queens"_ And we were bathed by a wave of emotions and balloons.

When things calmed down a little Liam's parents showed up and hugged him with big smiles.

Okay! That broke my heart a little, it was so beautiful! Liam's parents were so supportive. It gave me hopes! It made me think that maybe…Someday, all the parents in the world could be like his, and they would see beauty and love beyond whatever was between your legs, because in the end what really matters is inside your heart, and they understood that, actually, the loved Liam exactly as he was, I couldn't see any repulse or disgust, just proudness, maybe the world was changing, maybe Craig was right, maybe I should just…Let it go.

Liam's Parents said goodbye to us when the show was over, they needed to take a flight the next day to have an eight honey moon. We decided to stay a little longer to wait for Cass and since it was opening night and they had that major event, they let him out early, so, at one in the morning, after Liam danced with almost everyone in the club we opened the doors as let the cold air of the nigh hit us.

There were still lots of people outside the other clubs, and many looked at us with interest. We were heading to the alley when someone called Liam at our backs.

It was Shaneleslie, still wearing her green gown and her wig, she ran after us with her heels in her hands.

"Wait!" She said with a grin as she approached and hugged Liam. "I'm so happy you won, you looked so beautiful tonight!"

"Thank you" Liam said adjusting his crown with proud

"You looked so stunning in your singing number and your friend's support, it made me feel jealous" Shaneleslie said pursing her lips.

"Would you like to hang out with us?" Tim asked as he pointed at the parking lot at the end of the Alley. "We're going to continue the party at a friend's loft"

"That would be great!" She said excited. "Can a pair of friends join too?"

We all nodded.

She tugged out her phone from her bra and started dialing while we walked out.

"Oh! Look at those ladies!" A mocking voice said suddenly.

My guts squirmed and we turned. We looked around, the event in the coffee shop was ending, but the mocks didn't came from there but the club right in the corner at our left. There was a gang of fifteen guys or so.

We ignored them and kept walking.

"Hey! Wait up! We want to ask you something" One of them said cracking in laughs.

"What do you want?" Liam asked sharply.

They laughed. "Oh look! A queen among us, guys please bow to her"

I rolled my eyes and balled my hands.

"I've you taken your surgery yet? I always wondered how a mutant pussy looks"

"You're just jealous of us" Liam scoffed.

They wrinkled their brows. "Really? Why I would any of us would be jealous of a sissy like you or your friends? For being the laughing stock of the city?"

"With that outfit, you don't need much help to embarrass yourself" Jim mocked.

"Look out with what you say big boy" Other guy said. "You should behave like a man, you're disgusting"

"Act like a man? Betch please we're more men that will ever be" Jim snorted.

All of the cracked in laughs.

"Yeah, I bet you're such men, when you hadn't even tasted pussy"

"We don't need to, to prove you that you're wrong. You don't know anything about being a man" Liam said angrily.

"Liam…" I said a little frightened taking him by the arm, but he let go.

"You know what? I'm sick of people like you who thinks that we're less than you just because we have other likings" Shaneleslie intervened.

"Other likings?" One of them mocked. "You…."

"We what?" Liam dared him. "We have anal sex? Can't you even say it? Is that frightening for you to say?"

"You're disgusting"

"Liam"

"Let me go Stily, you think you're so cool and whatever and think you're hilarious for making fun of us, but guess what? Deep inside you're just scared that you might be like us, that inside you ask yourself what it would be like to have dick in your ass"

"You're crazy" They laughed. "We are men, and you better stop saying shit you don't know about"

"Oh sweetie, of course I know about it, you're frightened you might be one of us, but guess what? You can't, you say you're men, but you're not for real, you want to be a man? Try to stand a dick inside of you, it hurts like a bitch, only a real man can bear it"

Their faces reddened and the bigger of them stepped ahead. "You won't tell what is to be a man, faggot"

"What's the matter? Do you want to prove you're a man?" Jim mocked. "I bet you couldn't handle a cock in that pretty ass of yours"

"Stop saying that!" The guy warned reaching closer.

"What? Dick? Cock? Ass? Am I making you feel uncomfortable?" He laughed. "And we still hadn't say anything about double dicking"

"Shut up! Shut up!" The guy roared and the rest of his friends joined him right in front of us. "You want a man inside of you so desperately? Then you'll have it"

Everything happened so fast! I'm not sure how, but suddenly my heart was throbbing and my mind clouded. One of them grabbed Liam by the arm but Cass hurried to kick the guy in the jaw making him fall on his butt.

I took Liam by the hand and pulled of him to the other side of the alley to reach the parking lot. There were screams and now people came running out of the clubs to watch what was happening.

One of them Grabbed Jim, but Cass handled him.

Liam took off his heels to run faster, with every step we took the parking lot seemed to be farther. Once we got there I searched for Jim's car when I felt a punch in the back of my neck and I felt knocking my head in the ground.

Liam screamed and then someone took him from me and dragged him out as he shrilled.

The guy who made me fall kicked me in the stomach to make me roll. The air escaped my lungs and I opened my eyes wide gasping. I couldn't breathe, I needed to stay away from him, but all my strength vanished with my air.

"Let me go! Let me go!" I heard Shaneleslie shouting.

The guy kicked me again in the stomach and tears climbed to my eyes as I desperately tried to haul air into my lungs. My mind was getting cloudy and my head spun, dazed by the darkness, the screams and the lack of oxygen.

I looked up and saw pure despair in his eyes as he rose his leg to kick me right in the face, but before he had a chance he fall to the side. I blinked while a hand came out of nowhere and helped stand.

"Are you okay?" He said with a frightened look on his faces and I shuddered. He saved me.

"Craig?" The guy who was kicking me to death said standing up suddenly.

Craig looked at him and then at me shocked. His bottom lip wobbling as he spun around as if trying to find help.

"You're a faggot!" The guy accused gaping.

"No…No…" Craig repeated over and over startled until finally he lost it and ran away from the parking lot and us.

I took my chance and ran away from him. There were so many cars and the place looked kind of desert, but when I looked twice I noticed shadows moving swiftly between the vehicles.

"Stily!" Cass said at my back.

"They got Liam!" I screamed my lungs out feeling how the panic took over me and I still tried to catch my breath, then I heard them. The unmistakable cries of my friend, cutting the air, my line of thoughts and my heart.

I lunged and ran following until I found him laying onto his stomach while the leader of those mother fuckers started to take off his pants and other two grabbed Liam.

"No! Please don't!" Liam begged squirming on the floor as a worm.

"You want a cock so badly in your ass? You'll have it"

"Let me go! Please!"

I kicked him right the chest and the guy fell on his back, the other two stood but Freddy came from behind them and choke-held one of them while Cass punched the other in the face.

I helped Liam to stand and looked around, we couldn't be that far from Jim's car.

"Help! Please!" Shaneleslie said from somewhere. My heart lurched over and over, but I couldn't find him and I still needed to put Liam in a safe place.

"We need to find her" Liam screeched at my ear.

"No! We have to…"

"Stily please! I don't want them to hurt her"

Crap! I couldn't think! Everything was happening so fast! I saw blood and people groaning all over my feet.

Cass fell. Two of them started kicking him. I let Liam go to help him but then Hip appeared and took one down what gave Cass the chance to face the other.

"Stily please!"

"Alright, let's go!" I said taking him by the arm as we dashed following the screams and cries of the poor Shaneleslie.

Behind a truck we found five of them, it was late… They were already raping her.

Tears streamed down my cheeks along with hurt, anger and something else that took over me. I jumped over the bastard over her and took him down. I kicked his chest frantically while I heard him squeal as he tried to grab my foot.

Two of them immobilized me.

"Stily!" Jim called at our backs.

Liam screamed again and the world started spinning all over. Everything went dark for half a second, my vision was bleary with a dark and thick liquid. I was lying on my back, the last thing I felt before passing out for another minute was the snapping of my nose when that son of the bitch broke it.

I lay there for two or maybe three minutes. Until I heard more noises, screams. People shocked, girl's voices and eyes over me. With the corner of my eye I saw that someone hugged Liam and other guy carried a fainted Shaneleslie in his arms.

Jim came for me and helped me stand. I still could hear fights and people cursing. I looked around and noticed that a mass of people stared at us.

One of those assholes came after me again but someone took him down with a single punch.

They grabbed Jim then kicked me in the stomach and I fell again.

"Jim!" I shrilled.

"Right there!" Someone shouted.

My head never met the floor this time, someone held me before I had a contusion.

"Cass?" I said hopefully, I couldn't see straight. Everything was cloudy and red.

"You're alright" He said with an appeasing voice.

I nodded as I blinked and recovered my strength.

"Yeah! Run mother fuckers!" Someone screamed.

"Get out of here!" More voices echoed.

"It's over?" I asked relief.

Cass nodded "They saved us" He explained as he helped me walk toward Liam and Jim.

"You're okay?" Jim asked softly touching the blood in my cheeks.

"You're a homosexual!" A voice said in shock.

Jim's face went pale and my heart skipped a beat when we turned to meet our saviors

"Stily, are you okay?" Kyle said with concern.

"Jacky…"

"Stay away from me" Jack growled storming out with long strides and I guess I did the same, because when I recovered my conscious, I was very far away from them.

Well guys, today December 7 isn't just my birthday or Stiles' birthday, today is also the day 4 years ago I met Isaac and 3 years from the day I said goodbye to him and almost made the biggest mistake of my life y the reason why I started writing this story, beyond wanting to help y have fun with my character's crazy stuffs I wanted to send a message of hope and peace to the people that lives similar experiences. And well, I thought it would be nice to publish the end in the same day where everything started. Call me romantic.

Well, enough of melodrama hahaha, lets play a game before you read this penultimate chapter publish your theories in the comments and when after reading the final chapter we will see if you were right or not hehehe. I'll see you in the end, thanks for all the support and comments, you make me feel as if it worth living all that because I got the make something positive from all that pain.

**LET IT GO**

I think I was an X-men, I mean, have you noticed that every time I was crying over something it rained all day? Wow wheatear-bending, what a cool super power, well, the problem is that I hate the sun and if I wanted gray skies every day I had to be weeping. Anyway, I'm just kidding, my only real super power was to get my ass in trouble.

I was in trouble, I didn't just lose the project but my mix for sound-production's final, the good thing is that the rest of the my finals were written in a boring class-room, and since I had already passed sound-production I had nothing to worry about except for Mr. Perry's class. I don't know if you remember well, but…The project worth sixty percent of my final grade, which meant that without the project or my laptop I was doomed. I would have to take Mr. Perry's class again next year and worst of all everyone would be laughing at me, and I wouldn't be able to graduate with Derek or the rest of my classmates. I bet Brandon was laughing his ass out right then.

I'm not sure if I was sad at all, I mean, yeah I cried for hours in my bed, but…Was I really doing it because I lost my chance to take revenge? Or I just wanted to cry to convince myself that I wanted to display the movie at last? You might not understand what I'm saying, so let me clear things for you, and no, I hadn't been lying to you or anything, is just…Is something I realized that night after I ran away from Derek and sunk into the darkness of the campus to later try to sleep in a chair of the theater.

I thought a lot, you can't just sleep when something this relevant happens to you, not when your heart his chocking you and you keep seeing that incident that changed your life over and over in your mind. I thought that maybe…If I hadn't move that fast my laptop wouldn't have died. I thought about time machines and saw the scene over and over from all angles –I was cinematography student after all- But it didn't matter how much I tried to came back to that point, I just couldn't time travel.

Sorry, I was going to tell you why I wasn't that sure I wanted to present the project in the end. Just think about it, I was days away from the screening day and…I got nothing, actually, there were more questions in my head than answers. First of all and most important Kyle. Things hadn't change at all between Kyle and me, he kept saying that I was his best friend and blah blah blah, other than that…Nothing, just awkward hugs and speeches of how I was the best friend in the world and how he didn't deserve my friendship.

Don't get me wrong, at this point sometimes I thought that the betches were right and maybe Kyle had some feelings for me, but I couldn't afford to consider that, because…Forget it, what really matters here is that we never kissed or was an actual insinuation of romantic interest in me from him…Right? And just do the math, with just days away from the big day so and many things that should have happened between us after he found out the truth, it was just impossible to present the project and I think I knew that from the beginning. I kept track of the time, I could have pushed things a little bit, but instead, I found myself immersed in parties, in movie afternoons at his loft, in having a straight life and worst of all, enjoining it.

I think I knew months ago that the project wouldn't be displayed in the end. I think I just convinced myself that I was going to do it to have an excuse to see Kyle other than the fact that maybe…I liked to spend time with him. Self-sabotage, I stretched things this long because I liked all the things I was seeing and living and I didn't want to put an end to it. That's what I hoped, to run out of time and never show the movie, and I think that's the reason I didn't feel any pain or sadness, just emptiness in the inside.

The other reasons why I knew that this would happen eventually also had names. Jim, Kristie, Allison and Derek.

I lost track of Jim a while ago. I didn't call him or got a call from him since we got that conversation about Jack and his birthday party, so many things had happen since then and even when I thought that Jim was my best friend and that I could tell him anything, I never told him about Isaac or Derek, not even a mail to comment him about Allison and Kristie and freak out together. I didn't know how everything was between Jack and him. I think I stopped mattering long ago for the same reasons I told you before.

Kristie and Allison…Something was going on there, Allison was supposed to be my partner in crime, but also was the reason why Derek would close our dorm's door for the last time soon and that killed me. She was taking him away. It was so confusing and frustrating, but…At the same time I understood why I kept letting her betray me over and over again, and it was that deep inside I just couldn't believe she was doing it.

Derek…My rock, my first memory is about him, not my parents, not a camera, not the sun or my first swear. It was stairs, my first memory were the stairs that took to his room, the happiest place on earth –I'm sorry Disney- I felt bad about Derek for so many reasons that I wouldn't know where to start.

I lied to him for months, when he found out the truth I yelled so many awful things at him and said that he was jealous of me.

I made him break up with his girl.

I didn't talk to him for other bunch of months and that time…When I was in the forest he tried to fix things up –I know, he called me to ask for Allison, but we both know it was just an excuse- And I just yelled at him harder.

I felt jealous of him for being happy and that was wrong in so many terrible ways that the only thought of it made my guts squirm and my heart ache, but the worst of the things I did to him was to neglect him, get him out of my plans and my life. Bit a bit I drew a line in the middle of us. We were supposed to be best friends and I was really mad at him for leaving but… I didn't realize that it was me who left his side long ago. I left the moment I recorded that first video with the betches in the New Year's morning.

Sorry, I think I just lied to you, that wasn't the worst thing I did to Derek. The worst of tall was the fact that it had been a week since I found out about Allison and Kristie's kiss and I hadn't say a word to him. When I found out the truth about them, I thought about so many things and most of them were Kyle related, it never crossed my mind that Derek was being affected too by this whole situation and what hurt me must was….

That I wasn't going to tell him anything anyway.

I did many wicked things the past six months, from putting itchy powder on Kyle's eyelids to invite half of the city to Kristie's home to get her in trouble, but this wasn't going to be one of those things. I loved Derek and I wanted the best for him, but…I also had to admit that…Even when I hated Allison and Kristie I also loved them. I had spent so many time with them and now I considered them my dear friends. I just couldn't push them out of the closet as it happened to me, I still wasn't even sure of how things were or if they really had feelings for each other, the clues were there, I grant you that, but in the end I just didn't feel brave enough to do that to them, I couldn't just screw Allison and Derek's plans when I didn't know the context of their affair or how serious the thing was. Maybe they were just experimenting, maybe it was just a one night thing. Would it worth to throw away years of relationship for a one night thing? Why they did that?

I should have talked to them, but I didn't care anymore what happened and it wasn't my business anyway.

I think I can resume all the things I just said to you in one sentence. I was afraid of the future. Just think about it, I did plans and plans and nothing ever happened, and…I just kind of felt like it was fine that way. Subconsciously I think I kept waiting for something to ruin everything that could set me free from the responsibility of being myself. That way I wouldn't have to present the project, I wouldn't have to accept the fact that soon Kyle and I wouldn't hang out anymore, that way I felt safe. I think that's why the idea of Derek moving out scared me so much, apart from the fact that I couldn't picture my life without him, was something else, and that thing was…Picturing my life in any way.

Yeah, dreaming about Hollywood and academy awards seemed so ambitious from me, but also were pretty basic and safe things. Let's face it, I didn't have a plan. I didn't know what I was going to do when I graduated and it scared me that all my dreams vanished when it was over. I know what you're thinking, yeah, my movie for Bailey's class rocked, but it was a remix, it wasn't an original anything from Stiles Stilinski and it just liked to a few, it wasn't like the whole town was talking about me, I wasn't that great, I just wanted to believe that I was, because it meant that I was in the right track and that maybe one day I wouldn't have so many questions and fears inside my head, but the reality is that, what? It liked to twenty maybe sixty people? That didn't make you a celebrity, not even a local star.

Wow! I can't believe all the things that I realized once I was brave enough to look at myself in the mirror, and see all the things that were wrong with me, and not just with in the outside, but in my heart and my mind too. Being a grown up seemed to be easier when I was little. Derek and I used to think that when we were teenagers we would be bigger and stronger and no one would bully us ever again. When we were teens we thought that once high school was over everything would be better, and now look how I was. Maybe that's why I was so afraid of the yet to come, things...Just tend to get more complicated while you grow older.

Can your body work without food or any water? That's an interesting question, because I didn't feel hungry, or thirsty, or even sleepy anymore. All I felt was emptiness and also…A bit of peace.

….

The world stopped moving the moment Jim told Jack all those awful things, some truth and many others half-lies to keep him away from him. He succeeded in his task and now was paying the consequences. Jack's absence was even more noticeable that his disturbing usual good mood, that was so hard to ignore. It was like waking up from a dream, a very bittersweet one that left butterflies in his stomach every time he thought about it and hole in his heart when he recalled that it was just that, a dream.

When he woke up that morning, he knew that things wouldn't come back to normal soon. He used to wake up to find a text in his phone from Jack wishing him a good day, but today his notification's bar was empty. It looked like even the stubborn adverting pages that spammed everybody's morning were mad at him too.

There was a soft a warm breeze that came accompanied by intense sunrays from the open window at his back. Jack never stayed at his place and wouldn't do it ever anyway, but…For some reason Jim's bed now felt larger than he recalled, it was a cruel joke from the universe, suddenly his apartment didn't feel like a good place to live and he…Kind of longed his home, his mother's arm and the constant teasing of his brothers.

He came out of bed and walked to the kitchen. There were empty bottles of beer everywhere and rotting pizza crumbs over the table. He needed to do some cleaning but not just now, he was so dazed and sore, he wanted to sleep. All the hard work from the trainings those days had a big toll on him. He felt constantly exhausted and craved for more sleep hours, but it didn't matter how much of them he had, they never were enough and after last night… He just wanted to stay in his bed and watch TV the whole day.

He couldn't though.

He got a math final that day, he didn't study the night before, no human being would be capable of studying right after the night he had, but it didn't matter, it was just math. The good thing about them is that you don't need to learn or memorize things, you just had to solve problems and Jim was good at it, if only life was like math, everything would have been easier for him.

He passed! Yay? Bah! Jim wasn't like celebrating, he got enough of celebrations for a while. His classmates invented him though. It seemed like being a dork got its benefits in engineering, only nerds could study that after all and if you weren't one of them you weren't cool enough to hang out with them or even join their study groups.

You might think that Jim would chicken out after what happened and wouldn't come back to the team, but he did as if nothing happened, he had to be strong and also he was near his goal and couldn't just drop all his hard work, whatever. He also wanted to see Jack.

You know what's funny? Jim missed training sessions a couple of times before pretending to be sick. Today his head was killing him, but still, he came to the field's borderline when the coach showed up and ran and he did it faster than he had ever done, and you know what's even funnier? Jack didn't come to training that day.

It hurt Jim for so many reasons, because the two only possible reasons for why he didn't show up were pretty sad. Jack probably stayed till late night, spending time with his fiancé, laughing, holding her hand, telling her how silly things and swearing endless love to her for the rest of their lives.

The other possible reason is that Jack was so hurt for what Jim said to him that he didn't feel like going to practice, maybe he even quit the team after what Jim said about his plan of proposing Kyle as the new captain.

Jim ran so fast and desperate that he couldn't look to the side and see the guy's game, but he knew he wasn't there, he knew he didn't get late. It wasn't until he was slowly his pace a bit that he heard Garret's voice asking for Jack, he wasn't sure which where his actual words, but the boy looked around while he asked.

No one said a thing, all of them knew something that Jim didn't.

As you might have noticed by now, those days were hard for Jim, for both of us.

….

There is something beautiful about the silence, being immerse in the darkness of the…

"Hey! You can't be here!"

Crap! Stupid Janitor.

I rolled my eyes and trudged out of the theater.

There is something beautiful about the noise of the world around you, hadn't you ever stop to listen? Is overwhelming and scaring, those millions of voices speaking quick and aloud, stories awaiting to be told. If you could put them all in one movie…What it would be like?

Anyway, it was Wednesday's in the morning, no one found me on Tuesday because that day wouldn't be any displaying and I heard that the acting program would take their exams to the forest or something like it. I had it all for me and it was relieving, there was something about being alone in there that made me feel quiet about this whole situation.

Before you say that Derek left me alone for being such a horrible friend to him let me tell you that you're wrong. Derek knew where I was, he texted at midnight the night I disappeared. He didn't mock of me or told me that it was the best. His message was something like this.

"I know you need time for yourself, let me know if you need anything"

"Thanks"

"I…I don't know how to say this but…You can't…You know?"

"I won't kill myself for a stupid movie Derek, I just need to be alone"

"Sorry"

"It's okay"

"Good night"

"Good night"

That's it, he let me have my space, and well, that was kind of hard for me, I mean, I was relieved that he could understand me and let me heal my new wounds by myself and at the same time…It hurt me that he listened to me and let me figure things out alone, but I'm glad he did it, I can't explain it with words but…I think that was exactly what I needed and I think is something we all should do at least once in our lives. Get unplugged from the world, lock down in endless darkness and be forced to face our deepest demons.

When I came out of the theater that morning I was someone new. I didn't have any answers of my future, I wasn't wiser or stopped believing in the horrible human beings. I just… felt as if I just reborn, as if I was a blank canvass.

Maybe I was a new Stiles, but the world still saw the person I used to be, because I don't know how many pats in the back I got while I saw the world shining at last after the storm.

I'm not saying I was ready to face Derek or Kyle or anything, actually I needed more time to be alone. I still needed to figure out who this new Stiles was, after all, I think I couldn't just move on that easily and be part of the world without a goal in life, I felt lost and I needed to find my new motivation.

I'm good at procrastinating, oh hell! You just need to see the past months of my life. So…I wasn't feeling like hitting the road just right then to find my new self, instead I took my chance that all my classmates were busy with sound production's final and went to the movies, I needed to see what the world was talking about and which were the new tendencies, you can call it doing research, I say it was more like running away until I could came up with an epiphany of who I was.

Once the final movie ended, I just came back to my dorm and started studying my next day's exam, and also checked my phone for the first time since Monday's night. Kyle texted me, he said he was concerned about me. It was the same text over and over again, I guess someone eventually told him about my laptop, the other texts were from Allison, Kristie and Derek of course. The girls just wanted to know if I was okay, Kristie also said something about living with Kyle and that I was welcome to stay with them if I needed company. Derek wanted to know if I was hungry because he made bitter-sweet chicken, dumb Derek. My stomach said "_where is it?"_ And my mind _"shut up, we got to study"_

Derek got home twenty minutes after I finished studying. The parts of a camera where pretty basic things, so…I actually did it to keep my mind busy until sleep came.

When Derek found me he jolted taken aback, but then…His expression just shifted and he blinked as if nothing happened. He put the bitter-sweet chicken to heat and we ate it talking about the day and the crazy wheatear and those stuffs. He never asked where I'd been those days. He never said anything about the project or even chastised me for ditching class, and of course we never mentioned a thing about all our issues and the massive wall I erected between us. It was just a normal day in our lives, before the betches, before the project, before Isaac or Allison or anything else, just us.

While we ate I noticed that my laptop was gone. Derek was stubborn, he probably took it to a store to get it fixed. I couldn't believe he was trying to do such thing for me even when he didn't share my ideals and several times yelled at me that I was crazy. If the dictionary didn't have Derek's picture in the entry of best friend then I didn't know what it meant.

But even when I was grateful with him for trying and I also wanted him to stop, it was time to move on. He had to let it go. I gave up days ago anyway.

….

Jim and I were so alike and different at the same time. While we were facing similar situations and responded to them in a somehow similar way, I have to admit that Jim's response was better than mine. He never lost the track of who he was, he might feel disappointed of many things he had done, but he wore his mistakes proudly and moved on with his life. That was the main difference between us. While I hid from my problems and procrastinated the response, he continued with his life.

The good thing about the pain in his heart was the need he felt to run away and never come back was that he could drain all that frustration and anxiety running –And gather strength to face the world another day with his head high-, and he ran as if the world was ending. By Wednesday afternoon he had reached eight hundred and fifty laps. He was so near of the end that he almost felt tempted to finish it once and for all just shut the fuck off of the coach and make his mustache fall, but he knew the limits of his body and it would be dangerous to push himself longer than he could.

He was back by the way, yeah, Jim thought that Jack left the team after all the things that Jim told him, but he was back and even though Jim made his best to not look at him, time to time he just couldn't help to stare and he didn't like what he saw. Jack wore something in his eyes that scared him, it was something beyond determination and anger. He looked so annoyed and mad, actually, he could notice that he was being a little rude to the rest of the team, it was something easy to understand, considering that now he knew that Jim manipulated them all just to take him down.

He never looked back, it was a good and a bad thing at the same time. It didn't matter how many times Jim found himself with his eyes fixed in the captain of the team, he just…Never stared back. It almost felt as if…As if Jim never existed in his life at all, as if he was invisible and not just for him, but the rest of the team and the coach never bore their eyes on Jim. I remember I told you that Jim was a peacock, so it hit his ego badly to realize that no one pay attention to him, though it was better that way, he didn't want to see or talk to anyone those days, he still needed time to heal.

The sun went down and when the coach blew his whistle Jim stopped to a halt. He saw his team mates walking toward the locker room as they laughed and teased each others, and then he noticed that they were making fun of Jack. At this point they should have known that Jack was marrying Beverly. He looked uncomfortable with the whole situation and Jim didn't want to listen to them talking about the commitment or anything, so he waited in the bleachers for them to come out. The minutes stretched out while he catch his breath. Most of them liked to shower in the locker room after training, while Jim rather the hot water of his loft.

"Where you think you're going rookie?" Jack's voice suddenly said in his mind and Jim looked down at the field, where he saw himself months ago listening those words coming from Jack's lips.

He was so exhausted and mad that day, Jack was such a dumb boy and stubborn…Damn that he was.

"Now, don't look at the feet, they are treacherous, always look at the eyes there's the trick" Jack said other day, when he was telling him how to steal the ball.

Jack always looked at Jim in the eye, why he never saw the truth that he hid behind? How he couldn't see that Jim wasn't good at all? Why he had to trust in him? Why he had to be so naïve an innocent? Now that Jim thought about it, he should have learned how to read the eyes, to see that Jack was lying when he told him that Jim was a good person and almost convinced him of it. He should have known that some things couldn't be changed with just wishing for them.

"What are you doing?" Said a cheerful voice and Jim whirled in his seat.

Next to him was Kristie peeking through the darkness as if trying to see what he was looking at just seconds ago.

He rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I didn't know where else to find you"

"What? Why? What happened to you? Are you really living with Kyle after all?"

She smiled. "You can't believe how great is to wake up without listening to my aunt's voice"

Jim held a chuckle. "So? You're gone for good?"

She nodded. "Yeah, that bitch called my dad and made up a lot of lies about me, she even said that I tried to give crack to Paula, so I can't go back to her home"

Wow! That was harsh, he knew that Mrs. Whittemore was kind of crazy but…

"Or my home"

"Wait…Your dad…"

She nodded with sadness. "Yeah, he is in Amsterdam right now, got a lot of work but…He got some five spare minutes to tell me that he is very disappointed at me, that if my mom was alive she would die of a heart attack when she found out what a monster I was, so…Basically he didn't believe and told me that I wasn't her daughter anymore"

Jim pressed his eyes shut. How could she say that so calmed? "I'm so sorry"

"It's okay, when he is back if he ever comes back I'm gonna tell him the truth, he will have to listen to me, but till then I'm staying with Kyle. I'll get a job and everything will be fine"

Wow! She was so optimistic, even when she lost everything fighting for what she believed in.

She sighed. "Anyway, I didn't come here to tell you about my exciting life"

Jim arched a brow.

"I came here for this" She explained handling Jim a rolled sheet of paper.

Jim took it puzzled and unrolled it on his lap. The surface had a long and very hard to read sketch with pointed lines and arrows that pointed at all directions and connected bubbles and draws, like the one of a mad woman that was suspiciously very alike to…

"What's this?" Jim wrinkled his brow.

"This is what we're going to do to save Jack" Kristie said with a self-sufficient grin.

"We're gonna what?" Jim sighed losing his patience. "I told you Kristie, I'm not doing anything and less… Is that an anvil?" He said shocked.

She pursed her lips. "It was a piano in the beginning" She started saying as she arched a brow thoughtful. "But then I thought, how stupid, how I'm in the hell are we going to find a piano that big?"

Jim glared at her, was this for real? "Look Kristie, there is nothing you can do, he loves her, he chose to marry her, don't you get it? It's over"

She shook her head. "You're the one who isn't getting it pretty face"

"Don't call me…"

"Alright Jack's boyfriend"

"Don't call me that either!" Jim rolled his eyes.

She chugged. "Anyway, you're not getting the point, didn't you see it that day in the dinner?"

"Didn't see what?"

"The way he looked at my aunt when I told him to say the truth that he didn't want to marry Beverly"

"So what? You can't just plan to let fall an anvil over Beverly just because a stupid look"

"It wasn't just that, Silly!" She giggled. "Think about it, my aunt made Jack's favorite, lasagna that night"

"Is that a code for I want you to marry a bitch?" Jim let out angrily.

"Something like it" Kristie laughed. "Look, didn't you see how fancy that whole shit was? I bet she had plans for something more elaborated, that bitch is pretty bigheaded, but maybe Jack wasn't that fine with the idea of marrying and she made the lasagna to appease him"

"That's the most stupid idea I ever…Is this a casket?" He said shocked pointing at the poorly made draw with his finger. "Why do you need a casket?"

"Duh! For my aunt, when she dies of a heart attack after seeing Jack and you kissing in this part" She explained using her nail to guide Jim's eyes to the stick men kissing.

"You're crazy" This was so stupid! "Jack doesn't like me at all, he hates me"

"He doesn't hate you, if he hated you he wouldn't be so down right now"

Jim snapped and then thought better. "No, he doesn't even look at me, is like I don't exist to him, so stop making things up"

"You're stubborn pretty face, why do you think he didn't came to training the other day?"

"Because he was too busy having fun with his fiancé?"

"Are you kidding? Annie called at three in the morning after my aunt went to sleep. Jack got into my room and found one of the bottles I got hidden in my drawers and got really drunk"

Crap! That boy was dumb as fuck! "That doesn't mean anything, he was celebration his commitment"

Kristie scoffed. "Really? Celebrating? Drinking a whole bottle of tequila by his own in the yard at three in the morning listening to Adele? Yeah! I bet he was really happy"

Jim blinked twice…No…It was a misunderstanding.

"You need more proves? Let's go back to the dinner, when we were taking our places"

"What about that?" Jim frowned.

"He asked you next to him, remember?"

Jim took a second to think about it. Yeah…He kind of recalled that… "Yeah but there still was the other chair" He was replying but she cut him off.

"No, Archie was already there" She said with a smirk. "Don't you see it? He was scared! He wanted you to sit with him, because that way he wouldn't have a chance to kneel before that slut, you were his last chance pretty face and you let him down, you didn't save him. You doomed him"

Jim swallowed hard…This…This had to be a mistake, no! She was wrong! He wanted to marry Beverly! Everyone saw that…

"Hey" It was his voice, stern and sharp. "We need to talk"

Jim's heart quivered and butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He looked up and saw Jack standing before him, but he wasn't looking at him.

His eyes were fixed on Kristie.

"Hey Jack!" She said happily while Jim shifted on his seat. "I can't talk right now, I'm kind of having a very important conversation with pretty face"

Jim stood almost instantly. "No, it's okay, I have to go anyway, I'll see you later" Hurried to say as he stood felling his heartbeat in the ears and strode out to head to the locker room and take his stuffs.

Kyle and some of the guys waved and him and said some things about what a stubborn bastard he was for enduring the coach's punishment for that long, but Jim wasn't listening, he might be in the locker room physically, but his mind was still in the bleachers, processing what Kristie told him. It was impossible, he couldn't have been Jack's last resource, because…Because if he was, that meant that Jim didn't save him.

If Jim was Jack's last resource, then he condemned him.

….

The news about my laptop spread like wildfire and now that I was kind of a mini celebrity in campus. People started to pat my back more often to show their sympathy, thought they were just the ones that knew about how important was Mr. Perry's final. The vast majority said that I was just trying to call everyone's attention because I just could buy a new one. It seems like, no matter what you do in your life there always will be people saying shit about you.

My first formal appearance was the Thursday afternoon for one of my finals, since it was written I still could do my best to keep my grades high. Many necks craned when I got into the classroom and the eyes of my classmates were on me the whole hour. I wonder what they were thinking, I bet most of them thought that I was going to losing it soon. Brandon and Smithy were part of the few that instead of feeling pity for me, didn't do anything to hide how happy they were and how hilarious they found my situation. I know what you thought, that Smithy was a poor victim of the world and me, bullshit. He was a Coder after all, they were my natural enemies and the thought that I wouldn't be able to present anything for Perry's class gave them the chance to be below the spotlight at least for once in their lives. Of course that wasn't going to happen, No, I wasn't planning to boycott them or anything, actually, I didn't have to do anything, their movie would destroy them by itself.

Yeah, just because I hit bottom and stuff didn't mean that I was going to become the frigging Jackson Whittemore. I lost and everything, but that didn't mean that suddenly I was going to start liking my enemies, some feuds are for life, like dogs and cats, and dogs and lizards, and dogs and other dogs…The funny thing is that…I like cats better.

I was the first finishing my final, which was very impressive considering that I only lasted twenty minutes. I bet that even Derek was jealous, you know how he was about exams and being the official dork of the class. It doesn't matter, I thought about waiting for him and then go to the movies or something, I didn't want to stay at my room dying of boredom and feeling sorry for me. I wasn't that Stiles anymore, and of course I didn't want him to concern about it. I'm sure he still didn't believe in my words when I said that I felt fine.

I stood outside of the door and a couple of girls I didn't know waved at me from the corner of the hallway and then I heard someone saying "Hey, that's the guy"

"The guy's from cinematography?"

"Yeah, that's him, I met him the other day in the theater"

"Wow, he is really short"

I looked down and held a chuckle.

"You look happy" I heard a voice said from my left. I cocked my head and found Allison smiling at me.

I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled at her.

"Do you wanna hang out? I just came out of a final and then least thing I want in the world is staying in this damn hallways"

I wrinkled my brow considering it and then nodded. "Wait, Derek must be on his way already" I said pointing with my thumb at my back.

"Wow! You beat Derek on who finishes early?" She arched a brow impressed and then her expression went gloomy. "Wait…Don't tell me that…"

"I answered all the questions mom, take it easy" I chuckled.

"Let's go, he will catchup with us later" She said putting a hand on my shoulder as we walked for the campus and headed to the smoothies store just a block away.

We got in and got our drinks to later sit in a booth next to the window, of course I had a déjà vu, but I didn't feel bad or anything, actually, I couldn't help cracking in laughs suddenly.

Allison looked at me with concern while she sipped from the straw of her strawberry smoothie. She took my hand and squeezed it tight. "He's concerned about you Stiles, remember what…."

"I know Allison" I cut her dry. "And I get your guys point and it is valid, but, you need to understand that this is a totally different situation" I bit my bottom lip. "I'm okay, I know that what I did was stupid and I wouldn't do it ever again, I'm not that person anymore. We will always have to live things we don't like and sometimes life might be a bit shitty but…I can't just go around and slash my wrist every time something goes wrong and you guys have to start trusting in me"

Allison looked at me shocked and then she smirked and stood. "I'm so proud of you" She affirmed making me stand to give me a hug.

"Is not a big deal, it's just something everyone should know" I said looking at the scars in my wrist when we let go. I made some mistakes in the past, but that didn't mean that I would do them again.

She nodded as she grabbed her smoothie and made me signs to follow her. "Let's get out, I need some sun or I'll end up in a twilight movie"

The sunrays hit my eyes when we swum the door of the store, and in that very moment I understood that my life was far from over, there were still a lot of things I could do and other ways to impress the world with my talent, I just needed to find them. It sucked that the project was over, but it wasn't the end of the world.

I smiled at her and we crossed the street.

"You have changed so much in matter of days" She pointed out when we were back in the campus.

"I guess I had to"

"No matter what, I want you to know that I truly believed in your idea Stiles, I think you could have done some great things, and it is sad that you couldn't finish it, have you think about starting it again?"

I shook my head smirking. "For what? Perry's finals is just five days away and I don't know if I want to see Kyle again"

"He keeps asking me about you" She said a little embarrassed.

Really? How…Nice.

"I told him that you were so down because you got very important projects in that laptop and he understood and said that he felt pretty bad for not being with you right now, but his work doesn't give him time to go out except for his exams"

"It's okay"

"Kristie and him are living together now, you know?" She said casually, but I…I don't know, I think I saw the shadow of something in her eyes and I couldn't tell what was it. Relief? Confusion?

"Well, I guess they are the perfect couple of after all" I joked.

Her eyes flickered. "Yeah…No, Kristie's aunt kicked her out of her house"

I opened my eyes wide. "What? Why?"

"Kyle wasn't very clear, but…He said something about having a fight because Jack was getting married"

What? Jack was getting married? Damn! I fall in a void for a couple of days and the world went upside down. I thought he broke up with his girlfriend. Why Jim didn't say anything?

I whistled. "Poor Kristie, Haven't you girls talk?" I asked politely, though part of me wanted to know how where things between them.

Allison looked away. "We…Hadn't talk much lately, she is busy trying to find a job. Her dad kind of disowned her"

Okay, this had to be another dimension. I mean, are you kidding me? Thank god I didn't vanish for a month as I used, or else I would have found the world conquered by Aliens.

Now seriously talking. I couldn't help noticing Allison's attitude when I mentioned Kristie, there was something going on there. That flicker in her eyes said so many things, but all of them were so hard to read and I just…Wanted the truth, to love them, to hate them, I don't know, just some clearness, some truth or something to keep me busy while I figured out my new life.

"Allison…I need to…." I started but…Derek showed up from somewhere.

"Hey! What are you doing? Don't tell me you're planning to kiss her again" He joked glaring at me with a funny face.

He was such an asshole, only Derek could make fun of something like that.

"No Derek, I'm not planning on stealing your girl" I rolled my eyes.

They kissed and I looked away feeling a little awkward and I found the betches approaching.

Freddy waved at me along with Liam and Cass came out of nowhere and rose me from behind.

"Cass! Let me go!" I said batting my legs as I laughed.

Some people looked at us as we were crazy, but we didn't pay attention.

"What are you doing here?" I asked fearing the answer.

"Char called us" Hip said with a smirk.

"Hey buddy!" I replied shocked, I didn't remember the last time I saw Hip. "How's everything?" I gave him a small punch in the arm in a brotherly way. "Did you reach your goal?"

All of us looked at him expectantly and Hip stared back with a blank expression, then, he parted his lips and spoke. "Fifty five, losers"

"Wow! That's a lot of jizz" Tim joked.

"Yeah, It's a shame you lost your project, I couldn't wait for my ass to be top trending in the world"

"Oh my god! You guys are disgusting!" Allison said laughing.

"Oh sweetie please, you know you feel sad because we're not straight and you can't have us" Liam teased.

We all exchanged looks and cracked in laughs.

Allison and Derek rolled their eyes amused and sauntered around talking about theirs stuffs.

I sat in one of the benches before the pond

"I'm so sorry sweetie" Liam said resting his head on my shoulder as we both stared at the shimmering shallow of the pond.

"It's okay, it was hard at the beginning, but I think I'm better now"

"Or, you can always use my latest clips to make a porn, I bet everyone in the theater will freak out if they see it"

I held a chuckle and keep looking ahead and then Tim spoke.

"Stiles…Are you sure you can't do anything?"

I shook my head. "Is dead guys, I tried to turn it on millions of times, even Derek took it to a store, but there hadn't been any response yet"

Liam sighed. "Oh sweetie, you should have called me, maybe I could have done something"

Crap! He was right, well, there was nothing we could do about it now.

"It's okay guys, I'm really fine, I promise"

"Well, what are you doing to do now?" Cass said putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I don't know" I replied sincerely. I was lost.

"Well" Freddy started sitting at my other side. "You can always make a reality show about your virginity. That would be really funny"

"Yeah!" Tim chuckled. "And make a casting about the guys who might take it and when you sent someone home you could give them dildos"

"It could be called Mother Stily" Cass suggested.

All of them cracked in laughs.

How's that my virginity always was the subject of their jokes? They were a bunch of bitches! Yeah…Well now you know why we called ourselves that way, we could make a joke of almost any sad situation, and…Well I had to admit that it was a little bit funny. I know what they were doing, they were trying to bring me back to reality, they didn't believe in my crap of peaceful and quiet Stily. They knew I didn't accept things that easily and were teasing me, they wanted me to get mad at them and shoot a movie about their crappy loves lives or something like it. That was the way things worked with us, we threw shit at each other to show our love.

I loved that bunch of losers, I hadn't realize how much I missed them, until that moment.

At the end I just joined their laughs and we saw the sunset mirrored in the pond, everything was fine somehow. The only thing that bugged me right then was…Why Jim wasn't there with us?

….

Nine hundred and seventy seven. This was it. Jim was so close he could almost feel his feathered bed beneath his soles. After that Thursday he would finally be free of the coach's stupid punishment. He couldn't believe how far he had come after all those days, it had been a pair of pretty hard weeks for him, but the end was finally close.

He couldn't get why, but…Since he heard Kristie's words they kept coming to his mind over and over again, and the idea of have caused a disgrace to Jack only made him want to run faster, he wanted to get to that point of not coming back, when you move so fast that you literally time travel. That's what the wished for now, to scape, to vanish and stop when the world was different, when he was older and wiser and most importantly when he didn't recall Jack at all. That way he wouldn't feel so guilty for what he had done, if Kristie was right of course.

The lasagna. Could it be right? That didn't make any sense, Mrs. Whittemore said that she made it for Jim, but…It was Jack's favorite, lasagna couldn't fit with that kind of dinner. Could Kristie be right? Could it mean that Mrs. Whittemore was trying to set up Jack to make him to her will?

Don't forget about the chair incident. That was a thing Jim couldn't deny. Jack asked for him to sit next to him and Archie was on the other side already, he wanted Jim next to him instead of Beverly, could he be trying to send a message? Yeah, even if Jim did sit with him he could ask Beverly any other moment but…The fact that he tried and that stare.

The whole day…Jack's eyes were saying something to Jim. Whispering things in a language he was incapable to speak. If he could only read eyes as good as Jack did he would understand? He thought that the stare was because he was afraid of getting hitched, but…No, he bored it even after saying those words, even after Jim let out what he got stuck in his chest, he still had something else to say. Something that was only for Jim to listen.

Adele? Really? Oh shit! Was Kristie right after all? She couldn't. She couldn't be right, because if she was…Then Jim would have hope, and if he had hope then…He might have ended up even more broken than what he already was, and it wasn't fair, and of course there still was the main reason why he let Jack go. He wasn't good for him, not in a millions, after all the things that Jim did in his life, he would deserve Jack's love, or could be a good match for him, he was a horrible person, he knew it deep inside but…He was trying, he wanted to be good, Jack made him feel like good things could happen even to people like him.

God! He needed sign! He needed something to tell him what to do! He just couldn't follow a heartbeat, because he might be wrong and…

"Taylor!" The coach's voice echoed suddenly.

Jim jerked almost instantly, tripped and rolled on the dirty as he heard loud laughs from all the middle of the field.

He stayed there facing the soil for almost a whole minute until he gathered enough strength and kneeled to later stand up.

"Yeah coach?" He asked ignoring the amused look of the guys in the team.

"Come here" The man shouted.

Jim sighed and gave a quick jog toward the man catching his breath.

"I want you to replace Chad, he twisted his ankle" The man explained pointing at Chad who was sitting in the bleachers grimacing at his feet.

Jim wrinkled his brow and swallowed. "But coach…I almost finish my laps, I think I can do it today" He replied with tiredness in his voice.

"What are you saying?" The man asked with a mocking grin. "You finished them two days ago"

Jim shook his head. "No, I still need to…"

"You reached the thousand two days ago Taylor, right now you're on a thousand and a hundred and thirty nine"

Jim's stomach plunged down. That was impossible "No" He said more for him than anyone else.

"I've been counting each of them, boy, believe me"

Oh crap! "Then…Then why…?"

"I wanted to see how far you could go, and I must say that I'm pretty impressed, I was looking for commitment and now I see that you're really committed to the team"

What the fuck? What the hell was wrong with that sucker? Argh! Jim hated him! And hated himself for being so stupid to not notice that he had reached his goal that fast.

"You did well, I just don't get how you lost your own count. You seem distracted, is everything okay?"

Everyone burst in laughs and Jim chugged glaring at them and then stopping short after finding out that Jack's eyes were on him too but he quickly looked away.

Jim's heart lurched and he swallowed nodding. "I'm fine"

"Great, then take Chad's place on Jack's team, there are still fifteen minutes left"

Jack's team. Great, just what he needed.

Jim took off his shirt and walked to the side of the bare chests.

The coach blew his whistle again and everything started. Jim was running again, he could notice now how swift his legs moved. He took the ball from Aidan's feet who didn't even see what happened. He almost cracked in laughs.

"Here!" Garret called him.

Jim passed the ball to him, the boy shoot, but Kev was fast and caught it.

"Well done Gar" He heard Jack said patting Garret's back and suddenly he felt cold.

It didn't matter though, he made something that could have been impossible for him a month ago, he moved like a pro. He was exhausted, his legs where killing him, but he wanted more. He could do this.

Paul had the ball for half a second, because Jim once again was controlling it.

"I'm here" Garret called again, Jim gave to him, but Aidan came out of nowhere, Jack lunged to him. Aidan tried to take out of his reach and looked for one of his team mates, but all of them were blocked for Jim's mates.

Jack took the ball, Kyle got in the middle. Jack tried to shoot but Paul blocked. Instead to aiming the goal he threw the ball at Jim. Taken aback Jim spun with Aidan right behind him. He dribbled and slid the ball between Aidan's legs, he heard a lot of laughs because he just humiliated him. He smirked and looked around, now everyone went after him. Garret was blocked and so were the rest of his team, his last choice was…

Jim kicked the ball toward Jack. Kyle came after him, he gasped and recoiled. Kyle attacked even harder, it wouldn't last any longer. Jim ran to the goal where Aidan and Paul awaited already. Jack kept fighting, but it didn't matter, everyone knew that Kyle could handle him. He wouldn't stand a chance.

Jim's face went to his right and then at his left, when he look at Jack again the ball was already flying to his head. Without thinking twice he head butted it.

He heard the whistle. It was the first time Jack's team beat Kyle's in two weeks.

Oh god! He did it! Jim did it! He won the game! He beat Kyle and Aidan even Paul's ego. That feeling was great! He felt so powerful. The guys ran to him, led by Garret and Chad who limped toward them. Jack jumped excited next to him and patted him in the back and they laughed and laughed and hugged and then they met their eyes.

It lasted a second or maybe three millions of them. Jim couldn't tell, time stopped for both of them and beyond joy and happiness and even farther in the disappointment and sadness he saw an ephemeral and blinding flicker, the voice of a thousand words unspoken. Jack still had something to say.

And now Jim knew that he had them too.

"That's all for today" The coach announced and the time started moving again.

Jack and Jim blinked and awkwardly, they broke off.

He was trudging to the locker room when the coach stopped him.

"Are you alright Taylor?" The man asked as he wrinkled his brow and his mustache.

Jim nodded catching his breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I'm just tired"

"You look pretty bad" The man affirmed.

"I'm fine coach, I promise"

The man chugged. "Great" He patted Jim's back. "Still, I think I've been too rough with you boy, I must admit that I should have stopped you the moment you finished, but the hours passed and you kept running"

He was expecting for Jim to say something, but what he could say? I got a crush for the captain, when I shouldn't because I was supposed to destroy him and plus because he is straight and wouldn't love me back, but I'm not so sure now because his stupid cousin has been saying shit to me? Nah! The man wouldn't understand that.

Jim just stayed silent.

"Are you classes okay?"

"Yeah, actually I'm doing great"

"You're in engineering" The man pointed out.

"So what?"

"Shouldn't it be elemental for you kids to know how to count?"

Crap!

"Look coach…"

"I'm kidding, I get it, you got lost in your thoughts, that's the good thing about running, sometimes you get to places you didn't know even existed"

Jim smirked.

"Go"

Jim nodded and made his way toward the locker room.

"Oh and Taylor, you're free of training tomorrow, but I want to see your butt at first hour on Saturday morning!"

Jim scoffed and said goodbye to the guys that were already leaving.

When he got inside, he got his duffel bag and put it on his shoulder while Garret said goodbye to Jack and him and left.

They were alone. A wave of panic took over him, amazing isn't it? How James self-centered Taylor could fall to the point of being hanged by his emotions for just being left alone with his Jacky.

Jack didn't look at him, he just kept gathering his stuffs and Jim wouldn't stop thinking and thinking, what he was going to do? Was true what Kristie said? Shit! Why everything had to be so complicated? Why Jack wouldn't just tell him whatever he wanted to say? Why he couldn't do it himself either?

_This isn't you betch! You're pathetic, be a man_. He thought swallowing hard.

Jack took his bag and went to the door.

Jim grabbed him by the forearm. "Wait" He muttered.

Jack yanked his arm back and glared at Jim. This was it, if Jack didn't give him at least a little sign Jim would…

"What do you want? Is there something you forgot to mock about the other day?"

Jim shook his head. "It's not that, look I…"

"Jackson! I've been waiting for hours!"

Of course! It wouldn't be Jim's life without Mrs. Whittemore getting in the middle as always.

"Oh James!" She said excited.

Oh James? What about…Oh James the mother fucker who made my baby feel bad? Why in the hell Jack didn't tell her the truth?

"Hey Mrs. Whittemore" Said Jim hiding his bewilderment and replacing it with a smirk.

"I'm so glad to see you, I wanted to talk to you" She said with her usual singsong voice as she pursed her lips.

"What can I do for you?" Jim asked embarrassed.

"Nothing, you have done enough" Jack hurried to reply sharply, though Mrs. Whittemore didn't seem to notice, because just nodded at Jack and then looked back at Jim.

"I wanted to apologize for Kristie's behavior, it must have been so uncomfortable for you to listen such amount of lies together, and I'm sorry for myself too, you didn't have why to…."

Jim shook his head. "It's okay Mrs. Whittemore, I promise, actually I'm happy you hadn't see my brother's arguing"

"I'm sure they can't be as bad as…"

"They are worst" Jim chuckled.

The woman giggled and then breathed out happily. "I'm glad we sorted this misunderstanding, you're such a lovely boy" She said squeezing Jim's cheek with her bony hands.

Jim nodded.

"Well Jackson, it's time to go, I still hadn't figure out what I'm doing for…Wait, Did I interrupted your conversation?"

Jack shook his head. "No mom, we already said everything"

"Are you sure?" She asked frowning at both of them.

"Yeah go" Jim smirked hiding his sadness. "I'll see you later Jacky, bye Mrs. Whittemore"

"See you later Jimmy" Jack shot back with despise.

"Goodbye James" The woman said cheerful kissing his cheek. "I hope next time we have dinner, everything ends up in a better way"

"I bet it will" Jim chuckled and saw them leave.

Crap! Why Jack didn't tell the truth to his mom? Why he had to make things too complicated for Jim always? Now, he really didn't know what the hell he was going to do.

….

The betches didn't believe me. It didn't matter how much I tried to convince them that everything was fine. They wouldn't buy it. Hell that they were stubborn. Anyway, that Friday afternoon Tim and Freddy called at least thirty times to ask me to join them for Cass and Liam's big night. Do you remember? The drag queen's beauty contest, the opening night of the new gay club in town and of course…Cass' debut as Dj. Those were major events, it would be the beginning of something big for both of them and…I was there in my room. I got a text from Kyle telling me that he was going out for some event and asked me if I wanted to join him, but I said I was sick. It wasn't a pity party I swear. I just wanted some time for myself, and play stupid games on my phone, was that asking too much? Why no one believed me when I said that I was fine?

The betches wouldn't gave up that easily though.

Derek kept frowning at his laptop time to time and I couldn't help wondering what he was doing, I mean, it was Friday night, he could hang out with Allison since she got a free night but…He was pretty busy with whatever he was doing and every time I stretched my neck to peer he absently backed on his butt in the quilt. That's when the door stormed open.

"Hey betches" If my life were a TV show, this would be the part in which the public would clap at Jim's appearance.

I rolled my eyes and pressed my lips in a thin line. He got to be kidding me. I didn't know anything about him in weeks and now he just showed up as if nothing happened? He didn't even look sad for me, he looked as the bitch he always was. Of course I didn't know that he was dying deep inside.

"What do you want Jimmy?" I said bitterly as I pretended to check my phone.

"I came to drag your ass out of this shit hole" He said with his usual haughtily voice.

Derek detached his eyes from the screen and glared at him.

"No offense"

"Yeah, right" Derek scoffed and came back to his laptop.

"I'm not going Jim, I'm not in the mood for party"

"Weren't you supposed to be in your guru mode or whatever? That's what those liars betches said"

I chugged. "So what? Just because I don't want to go to a shallow opening night of a club I'm down now?"

Jim took a minute to think and then chuckled. "Wow! You're right bitch, we have been so careless, of course you are better, now get your butt out of that bed and…"

"Where the hell happened to you?" I asked angrily.

"To me?" He wrinkled a brow.

"You vanished! I didn't get any news from you in a while and even after I lost everything you show up a week afterwards"

"I didn't know that your crappy computer passed, I'll get you a new one if you want"

I balled my hands and Derek shifted on his seat. "It isn't about the laptop, betch, you have been acting weird since I told you might be falling for Jack"

Jim scoffed. "Again with that shit?"

"Yeah, again with that shit, you never showed any new videos and Allison told me that Jack is getting married, what the hell happened?"

I could see that he held a jolt when he heard those words but he quickly took control of his body. "Nothing. It's been a while since the last time I saw Jacky, I don't know betch, your project seemed like a good idea and everything but…I kind of grew tired after a while"

Oh he was such a good liar.

"Oh! So you were planning to let me down uh?" I grunted.

He hesitated and shook his head. "Of course not. I just got a lot to do, betch, I have my classes too remember? Engineering isn't the easiest career of all, I almost failed a couple of exams this week and I'm sorry if I didn't call you and told you how much sorry I felt for you but I just found out, no one cared to tell me what happened to you"

I gasped and came back to my phone.

"Now get your butt out of that bed or I'm dragging you to my car"

"I'm not going! I told you! I'm fine! You guys don't need this so elaborated excuse to just keep me busy from thinking about what happened!"

Jim laughed hard. "Oh betch please! You're right, you're fine. I see you're so fine that you're still selfish enough to only think about feeling sorry for yourself while Rupaul and Cassie are dying of nervousness for their big night waiting for their best friend to go there and support them as much as they supported you the past six months"

"You got to admit that Jimmy got a point" Derek said suddenly looking at both of us through his glasses with an arched brow.

Oh crap! You know? Jim was such a stubborn and evil bitch! I can't believe how strong he was, I mean, after all the things that he lived the past days, he still was brave enough to keep moving, to be himself and show me how wrong I was. He was strong enough to let go Jack and forget about him just to be there for his friends, included me.

I sighed defeated. "All right, I'll go"

I stood and went to my dresser to snatch some clothes. "Aren't you coming?" I asked Derek while I picked a T-shirt and a tight pant of the ones Cass chose for me long ago.

"No" Said Derek with a smirk. "I still got a lot to do for Perry's final"

Ouch! That was a low blow.

"But you guys go and say good luck to Liam and Cass for me"

I know what he was doing. He was giving me freedom to reconnect with myself, to be a betch again and forget about that whole situation. I owed so much to that dork.

"Alright, I'll take a bath and we will go" I said taking my towel and heading to the showers.

An hour later we were in the car as Jim drove toward the club yelling at me because we were going to be late. The club was in Maddison Street, in a pretty crowded part of the city full of bars and clubs, actually there were four straight clubs in there, two bars, a hipster coffee store with a bunch of people outside, and a Starbucks for the morning's hangovers.

The parking lot was behind an alley that took to Abby square. The place to where I followed Kyle when the amusement park was in the city.

We climbed down of the car and Jim made me signs to hurry up before we missed the opening. Just look at him, he was pretty concerned about not disappointing Liam, it was like a new person right next to me. We ran and hell, I'm not the best jogger, so…He wouldn't stop telling me how I needed to write less and run more. Yeah…That's wasn't going to happen any time soon.

When we took the curve in the alley, found lines and lines of people outside the clubs awaiting for their chance to get in.

We addressed the bouncer of the one with the largest line while we heard mocks coming from the other clubs, people was saying things about fairies and that shit.

We ignored them and looked at the welt built man with the menacing arms at the door. Above him was a sign with neon lights. It read "_Queens"_ in pink and _"Night club"_ in yellow. It looked so fashion and pop that I couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad feeling, but for a moment I forgot about everything and let things get a little loose.

Jim gave a handful of bills to the bouncer to let us in first while the people in the line started complaining, and also had to give him some extra to convince him that my ID wasn't fake. Idiot.

He opened the doors for us and we found ourselves walking straight into a void. It was pitch dark insane and you couldn't hear a noise. It was a little overwhelming and I would have believed that I was inside the theater again if it wasn't for the bodies we ran into while we got inside. The place was full and silent. Oh god! I just hopped none was planning to do one of those infamous flashmobs, if you think I was a crappy dancer…Try to add the surprise element to that and a pretty confusing choreography and the embarrassment of being the only one who doesn't know what the hell to do.

Very far ahead, we could see a spot of light in a high surface that made it look like a stage, but it was so distant that I couldn't help feel amazed for how big that place was.

I sighed and I heard that Jim did the same next to me, we were losing our patience, why no one was…?

A loud boom cut the unsettling quietness and I shuddered as lights exploded and music came like a blast right to us, making me feel uneasy, shocked and alive.

That moron Cass almost gave a heart attack! Oh my god! That moron Cass almost gave me a heart attack! Do you hear that? My friend did that!

People cheered and then her heard claps of hands. I jerked my head to the stage and saw a shape walking in a long platform as a spotlight followed her silhouette. A voice that came from the speakers in the ceiling said her name. She was Alisha, wore a dark blue dress, though from my position I couldn't make anything out and it looked like Jim was coming through the same, because he suddenly took my arm and started pushing people aside to take us to the stage.

Another two girls came now marching and making spins that the crowd applauded, those were Miracle Monroe and Monica Tension. Right after that the music became louder and more electronic with pretty nasty and sticky lyrics.

Jim and I kept pushing while Devine Chan, Charlamaine and Fiera showed up and the crowd went mad.

I saw a shadow moving up at the left and found Cass' unmistakable outline moving his arms at high speed behind a large metallic square. I smiled, I couldn't believe that this was actually happening. I was so happy Jim brought me.

Jim tugged of my arm harder and we kept moving while the host of the show called Shaneleslie, Leslie, Sunshine and…

My heart gave a lurch and I slid between the two guys in front of me amazed.

Liam, I mean, Sunshine. Walked in like a real bad girl, with high and pointy heels, a red long dress made of sequin with a short leather jacket zipped down to show a pair of boobs. There were yellow feathers in the hem of the jacket that matched the golden necklace she wore. Her wig fell in cascades, first in her cheeks, then on her shoulders and finally ended in her back.

She made a half spin and stopped to give a blatant look.

"Liam!" I shouted aloud.

Sunshine snapped, gave me a crooked smile with her now actually painted red lips and then she winked.

"Stily!" I heard Tim's voice saying from above the uproar of the crowd.

I found him coming over accompanied by Hip.

"Stily! I thought you weren't coming" Tim said excited as he patted my shoulder and smiled.

"Yeah, I changed my mind in the last minute"

"I changed his mind in the last minute" Jim corrected me.

I glared at him while the host presented new five girls and Tim pulled of my arm.

"Where are we going?" Jim asked as he followed us.

"We're going to see Liam, he needs to see that you guys came after all, he has been acting as a drama queen the whole day"

Jim and I exchanged glances and chuckled.

We kept walking inside sea of flesh and hormones when I heard Jim grunt at me back.

"Hey! Did you just grabbed my balls?" He asked angrily.

Tim and I stopped short and craned our necks. Next to Jim was a tall guy with a mischievous look in his eyes. He nodded in a mockingly way and grabbed Jim's crotch again.

"I'll see you guys later" Jim said without even looking at us as he licked his lips.

I rolled my eyes and gave a sidelong look to Tim who made me signs from a door at my right. He opened and Hip and I came in. Do you know those fashion shows where you always see half naked girls running from a way to other yelling things and holding their hair as it was on fire? Well, we were in one of those places. Here and there you saw Drag Queens hurrying to retouch their makeup, get dress, take a look at their hair in the mirror, and then was Liam…

Weeping in a corner.

"Liam!" I said preoccupied as he took off his wig. "What happened?"

"Nothing! I just…" He sobbed and let out a laugh. "Did you see the way they looked at me?"

I frowned.

"Come on! They went mad when you came out! You are the favorite!" Tim affirmed and Hip and I nodded.

"I know! It was fantastic!" He said thrilled. "I'm crying of happiness!" He screeched with a big smile. "I can't believe how exciting it was"

"Stop crying!" I heard Freddy saying angrily. "You're ruining your makeup"

"I can't stop" Liam whined. "Everything is so perfect"

"Oh god! You're such a drama queen, I bet you will win" Hip joked giving him a soft punch in the arm.

"Hey boys!" A voice said as a door closed from our backs.

"Hey Mr. and Mrs. Brooks" We said as they approached.

"Did you see that baby? You're going to win!" Liam's mom said shuddering with joy.

"She is right, now stop crying, we have no time to apply the make up again" Freddy said bossily.

Liam jerked and stopped sobbing almost instantly.

"What's up now?" The father asked looking through the door.

"The bikini contest" Freddy explained as he drew a two parts red bikini from a bag and put it on Liam's lap.

I looked around and noticed that the other contenders were already wearing theirs.

"Hurry up!" I urged him. "You're gonna be late"

Liam jolted took the bikini and ran toward the door at our left what I supposed was a bathroom.

"Wow! He is pretty nervous, ins't he?" I pointed out with a smirk.

"Hey Tim! I finally got the drinks, it was a total mess back then when…"

I knew that voice!

I turned and…. Hell! I was face to face with…One of the twins, but which one?

….

Jim and his boy made their way between the people, holding hands and kissing their necks while people ignored them. He kept looking for the magical door that would bring him back to be himself. He knew that he still had unresolved issues with Jack, and he felt pretty bad for doing this but…It wasn't like he was cheating on Jack. Jack wasn't his, even if he really had feelings for Jim as Kristie said, he was marrying Kristie and he still was her boyfriend, so Jim had the right to mess up with anyone he wanted.

They turned on the lights and transformed the stage in a beach or something like, now that everything was lit, he could see how large that place was and hell that it was, also it was a kind of disco club. All its surfaces were covered with bright panels which colors changed every time someone touched them or stepped on them. Imagine if they would have shoot Grease inside of that place. Wow! People would have got chills watching it. Ha! Chills!

"Fuck!" Jim grumbled. "Where is the dark room in this place?"

His guy bit his ear and Jim shivered.

"Don't you know?" Asked looking at him.

The guy squinted at him with his bright blue eyes. Jim looked at his broad arms and well-built chest…He was so handsome.

"I think they don't have one" He muttered at Jim's ear.

Jim squatted and tripped with a guy who started yelling at him.

"Maybe we should go to a hotel room" Suggested.

The guy pondered the idea and then the host of the show spoke aloud.

"Now…Get ready everyone, is making hot in here and our girls are going to show us their summer gear!"

Everyone started applauding. Crap! He forgot about Liam, he would kill Jim he doesn't see him there.

"Wait…I wanna see the show"

"Or I could take you to the place I'm renting" The guy suggested. Jim took him by the neck to make him look down and stare at him straight in the eye.

What pair of beautiful jewels he got up there. "Maybe" Jim smirked and then focused on the show.

….

"You're friends with Tim?" The twin said shocked.

"Craig I…" Tim started taken by surprise but then he quickly snapped. "Meet my friends, Stiles and Matt"

I blinked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I grumbled.

Tim looked at me and then at Craig? Well, I don't what I expected his name to be, but Craig definitely wasn't on my list.

"Time's up ladies" Someone said getting into the room and we all exchanged glances.

"Liam hurry up!" Freddy demanded.

"I'm coming!"

"I… I don't…" Craig started dumbfounded.

"Time's up!"

I heard the host's voice booming at the other side of the door.

"Let's go" Hip said taking me by the arm out of the room.

"Wait…" Craig called but I ignored him.

Once we were back into the crowd I balled my hands. I couldn't believe that Tim brought that asshole to make fun of us! What the hell was he thinking? That was treason!

"Our first contender loves…" The host was saying, but I couldn't focus, that moron's face kept coming to my mind, shit I was so mad!

"Hey" His voice muttered next to me and I rolled my eyes. "I didn't know…"

"That I was coming? Don't worry; if I knew you would be here, I wouldn't have come either"

He ignored me.

"I can't believe you're friends with Tim"

I scoffed. "I can't believe you're friends with him considering…"

"Jesus! Could you just let it go?" He grunted furious. "I tried the other day to explain you that I felt really sorry for what we did to you"

"You think it's easy? Every time I think things are getting better I ran into one of you"

He chugged. "Look man, I'm really sorry, I know the person I was and I don't feel proud of what I did to you, I'm just…"

And then I gaped in realization. "You're screwing Tim!"

"What? No!" He hurried to contradict.

"Get a room!" Someone yelled at us.

Yeah right! Of course that I was getting a room with that asshole! But to play to the jigsaw killer with him.

Craig looked around frightened, trying to find the person who said that.

I sighed. "Could you just please let me watch my friend's show? He is on the contest and I don't want to miss it"

"I came to see him too, Tim told me how important was this for him and his friends and I…"

"And you wanted to be part of it?" I snorted. "What? You're gay now?" Where the hell was Tim anyway?

He took me by the throat with one single hand as his eyes shone with fire.

"Hey! Careful" Hip threatened.

Craig let me go at once and then his expression changed. "I…I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to…"

I swallowed touching my trout with the tips of my fingers. "See? This is the reason why I can't just forgive you, you don't feel sorry or regret what you did to me, you hate me, and you just want to make the right thing just because Tim is your friend, but in the end you're like the rest of the straight guys"

"I'm really sorry Stiles" He embarrassed. "I didn't mean to, any of this"

"Yeah, whatever" I said rolling my eyes as I walked away from him to reach the stage and see the moment Liam came out with his…

Shit! It was over! That quick? I missed because of that asshole! I wanted to see how Liam looked in bikini! That wasn't fair. Just another reason to hate Moron, I mean, Craig.

"Wait, I want to ask you something" He showed up again.

Seriously? "What?" I arched a brow.

He fidgeted with his thumbs and then grimaced. "How… You knew?"

"How I knew what?"

"You know…" He started. "How did you know you were…_Gay?_"

I gaped. "You're gay now?" Okay, this was kind of bitch of me but…Remember what he did to me! I was down! Bellow earth! He mocked of me as if I didn't have feelings at all, he didn't matter.

He shook his head frantically. "No! I…I… I just want to know why you decided to be gay"

"Decided?" I couldn't believe him. "Oh you know, I just woke up one morning and said 'Hey you know what? I want the whole world to hate and that a bunch of mother fuckers make fun of me in a video for no reason'"

He looked down.

I sighed and looked at with pity. "You can't become gay okay?"

He looked up now and our eyes met, he really meant what he said.

"You just… Born this way"

He hesitated. "But…If for example, and I'm not saying that… I'm you know or anything…But if you born that way, what happens with twins?"

I frowned thoughtfully. Wow! That was a pretty interesting question. "I… I don't know actually, maybe they both born gay, or I don't know maybe one could be straight and one gay, I'm not sure, I'm not friend with any twins, can you leave me now watch the show?"

He looked down embarrassed. "Okay, but please…Don't tell Swin that I came here, okay? I just…"

Oh my god! Why he couldn't just ask those things to Tim? "Look, I have to go okay? The talent show is about to start and I want to whish Liam good luck"

"I'll go with you"

"Whatever"

I crossed the room, opened the door and I found the place just as I left it. Drag queens coming from here to there at high speed, putting on necklaces, heels, eyelashes, just pick a garment and you will spot one of them working on it.

"Hey!" I called at Liam was back to the group. "Are you ready?"

Liam turned slowly and… HOLY FLYING SCRIPTS!

"Liam…" I said openmouthed, and I wasn't the only one.

"You look like…" Hip was saying.

Freddy and Liam nodded. "It took us a lot of hard work to make a dress like hers, especially because of the cloak. That was a tricky bitch"

"So…." I swallowed. "You're singing let it go?" I asked in a whisper.

Liam nodded. "Think about it, that's the perfect song for freedom and express who you truly are deep inside, it's the perfect song for the community! No one will be expecting it"

Yeah! Now that he said it I could see it! That song talked about how hard is to be different and don't accept yourself, but how things could change and turn beautiful one you embrace your true self and let it be free.

"Shaneleslie, you're up" Someone said from the door and the host said the name aloud at the other side of the room.

We all exchanged looks with Liam.

"So?" He said smiling uneasy. "Do I look pretty?"

"Are you kidding? You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen" His dad said hugging him.

We all hugged Liam while Shaneleslie finished her act, whatever it was; the guy at the door called the next one and announced that after eight more girls it was Liam's moment.

"Wish me look betches!'" He said happily as he made a spin in his light blue dress.

"Good luck!" We said and came out to see the rest of the contenders.

Liam wasn't just right! He was a frigging genius! See, drag queen's most common talent was singing and all of them thought that it was a good idea to sing, so… They all sang, and even when they made us smile and laugh singing I'll will survive by Gloria Gaynor, it kind of felt boring after the fourth act, one sang Sweet Travesty from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, what a great idea, another girl performed I will always love you by Whitney Huston and gave us chills with her stunning voice. Damn they were good, but there was something they didn't have that Liam did. The surprise element, all of them did the classics and that's why Liam was going to shine when he came out and…

"And now! An ice queen will freeze your hearts with a spell, and melt it with her voice" The host announced.

I shivered excited, this was his moment… All his hard work would be resumed to this, right after they heard him sing Let it go, he would got it in the bag.

I craned my neck to Cass behind his Dj stand and smiled when suddenly the piano started playing and the crowd awed taken by surprise.

I looked at the stage with a smile on my face, but it wasn't Liam who was standing on it.

….

Okay this thing was stretching too much, when Jim saw that they were singing Let it go, he understood that soon all the queens would be tearing each other's throats to get that crown. He felt a little bad because he still hadn't talk to Liam and he knew how that bitch liked to overreact. In other hand, his guy was starting to look anxious and looked around bored, as if he was considering finding someone else to have fun and Jim couldn't afford that. It had been a while since the last time he had sex and come on he missed it, as any person would miss it after months and months of not doing it. Point for me, you can't miss what you never had.

"Hey" The guy muttered at his ear.

Jim shivered and looked up.

"I think we should go now"

Jim hesitated, he didn't want to leave without talking to Liam first, but…There was something weird about this guy that made him feel alive and anxious, there was something in his eyes, in the way his golden hair was disheveled in a cool way that made him want to go with him right then.

"How far is your room?" Jim asked hoping it was that far so he could come back in an hour or two to see the crowning ceremony.

"Its just a couple of blocks away, we can go on foot" He assured sliding his tongue into Jim's ear.

He squirmed and giggled. Okay, he liked this guy too much.

"Alright, let's go" He nodded feeling his heart rate increasing by his statement.

The guy curled his fingers around Jim's and pulled of him to find their way out of the crowd and the club. Jim just hoped that they could come back at time before the betches realized that he was gone. People looked at them as if they were crazy for leaving and other glared at them when they asked them politely to move to the side.

When they reached the door Jim felt a hand on his forearm.

"Betch where you going?" Asked Tim accompanied by a guy that seemed familiar for Jim. It was just Craig but Jim got a pretty bad memory, anyway, he glowered when Tim stopped him.

"What do you want?" Jim arched a brow.

"We have a problem and Liam needs you right now" Tim explained pulling harder of him.

Jim looked at his right where his ticket to come back to be the old Jim awaited and then at his left where a life of celibate awaited to curse him forever.

"Go with your friends" The guy affirmed with a grin, though Jim could see some irony in his eyes, he wasn't saying _"its fine, I'll wait"_ but _"I can find someone else anytime I want"_ Jim felt so hurt suddenly. But why? He knew that was just casual sex, it wasn't like that moron and him would fall for each other suddenly while they slept together.

Jim let go of the guy and followed Tim back to the mass of people while the drag Queen singing let it go reached the middle of the song.

"What happened bitch? Didn't you see I was busy?" Jim grunted as he followed Tim who pushed people like savage on his way to the changing room.

"Liam's song, he was singing Let it go too!" Tim explained with desperation in his voice. "He is crying right now, he thought he would have chance to win, but now everyone will think he just stole the idea"

"So what? Anyone else could have slapped him for me" Jim replied sharply.

"We don't want you to slap him, you have style Jimmy. You can help him find something as good as let it go that suits him"

"Are you kidding? Do I look like Tyra Banks to you?" Jim rolled his eyes.

"Who was that guy by the guy? He was hot" Tim asked casually right when they were reaching the door.

"Just someone I met tonight" Jim said coolly.

"He looked just like Jacky" Tim said thoughtful and Jim stopped short.

What the hell? That had to be a joke! He didn't look like Jack at all! Okay, he was going to choke Tim to death after slapping Liam, those bitches were ruining his life.

They stormed in and found Liam weeping on a chair surrounded by the rest of us. Jim threw me a look of "_Do something"_.

"Get your ass out of that chair betch and get ready" Jim ordered.

Liam didn't even bother to look at him.

"Sunshine you're up" A guy said from the door.

"I can't go out there when she just sang that song, I'll look like an idiot"

"You will look like an idiot if you throw all your hard work away because of a stupid song!" Jim yelled.

The rest of the girls in the room looked at him as if he was crazy.

I grabbed Jim by the arm and took him a little bit away from the rest. "What are you doing? You're just making him feel worse" I said angrily.

"Grow up betch, he can't just give up, he was doing fine, everyone love his bikini parade, people are betting he will win"

"Yeah, but how…How is he going to win now that he lost the chance to stun everyone with the song?"

"Can't he just pick another stupid song?" Jim rolled his eyes.

"That's the problem, they already did all the best numbers!" I grunted.

"Those songs?" Jim scoffed. "They are just a bunch a queens' songs, it's always the same, why they don't…?"

Jim's got it now! He knew how he was going to save Liam and help him win that crown. He moved quickly, we had no time after all.

"Timmy call Cassie and tell that there will be a change in Liam's song"

"What? What are you talking about?" Liam said shocked as he stood.

"There is no time betch, change those clothes" He hurried him.

"I only have the gown left" He explained drying his cheeks.

"Crap! Now I'll have to do the makeup again" Freddy cursed.

"Jimmy, Cass asking the name of the song" Tim said.

"Don't call me Jimmy betch, and let me think"

Jim looked around, he got a bunch of songs in mind but he couldn't concentrate. Which could be the best one for Liam?

"Beyoncé, let the makeup that way"

"What? Are you…?"

"Ladies! Ladies!" Jim called aloud and all the drag's eyes focused on him. "I'll need seven pairs of heels borrowed, do you think you can help?"

"What about Liam's outfit?"

"Sunshine they are waiting!"

"Just a second!"

All the eyes were on Jim, what could Liam wear?

"The white pants you were wearing this afternoon, you brought them?"

Liam nodded.

"The pants, the jacket zipped up, the heels, leave the smeared make up and take off that wig"

"Are you crazy?" Everyone protested.

"He won't look like a queen but a drowned rat!" Freddy growled.

Jim smirked pleased and then the rest of the contenders gave him their heels.

"No, we will look awesome"

"The name of the song Jimmy!" Tim said losing his patience.

"Grid" Jim let out with a smirk and we all looked at him shocked. Now he understood his plan.

….

"No! No! No!" I said trying to let go from Hip's grip.

"Come one Stily!" Tim said a bit angry. "This is for Liam"

I shook my head. "I didn't sign for this when you offered me your friendship, betches"

"You won't have to do Drag" Hip reminded me.

"It's not about doing drag betch! It's about me being on that stage"

"Move your asses! Liam's on the stage already!" Jim said furious as at the distant I could hear the unmistakable intro of Grid booming.

Jim choose wisely the song. In case you have been living under a rock, Grid is the seventh song in the album Too bright by Perfume Genius. Liam introduced us into his music a year and a half ago and I have to say Stiles Hadreas was crazy in a pretty twisted and awesome day, and of course he was, his name was Stiles after all. Anyway, I understood Jim's plan. He wanted to show a more human and vulnerable version of a Drag Queen, nothing ever seen before. Who they are when they are below the stage, when they are not queens anymore, but still…They keep being fabulous.

I heard Liam's voice echoing on the walls and my heart lurched.

"It's almost time, betch" Jim said looking at me sternly. "Are you with us? Or your stage fright will keep you from helping your friends?"

Great! Emotional blackmail. I nodded.

"Wait" Hip said shoving a hands on his pockets. "Use my camera, I want to record this"

He pinned it in my chest and let me go to put on my heels. You know? I can officially confirm that women, Drag Queens and transgender girls are crazy, I mean, what the hell are they thinking every time they put on one of those stuffs? They were uncomfortable, they made you feel as if you were about fall from a cliff and after walking two steps you feel as if you ran a marathon. Someone should forbid their sale.

"It's time" Tim called coming from the door that took straight to the stage. "Let's go"

I followed Jim tumbling on my new red heels to behind the curtain while Tim made signs to the guy that controlled it. I could see the lights and silhouettes behind the red fabric, it was time. Oh god! There were millions of butterflies on my belly.

I looked at my right and…

"What the fuck is he doing here?" I asked Jim while I pointed at Craig.

"Cass can't help us" Jim explained from the other side.

I looked at Craig, he looked even more frightened than me, but for different reasons. While I struggled with the fact of being below the spotlight, he fought with the idea of people thinking about him as gay. Maybe it could be a silly thing for me, but…If he really was going through it, it was a major moment in his life.

"The six of us can do it just fine, take a look at him, he seems like he's going to pass out any time soon" I pointed out.

"We must be seven" Jim said sternly.

"Why?" Tim frowned interested.

"That is the seventh song of the disc and Stiles used other six guys in the video to make seven with him"

"So what?" I chuckled.

"Seven is a powerful number betch, it brings good luck"

And hell that we needed luck, because as soon as he said those words the guy at the bottom unveiled the curtain and the lights hit my eyes blinding me for a second as all the betches sang the chorus of the song aloud. It was something raw and frightening. In the original version of the song girls made the chorus, this time we created the contrast with our deep voice while Liam's was high pitched and since our part was mostly screams of panic, well! The result was explosive.

Craig didn't do anything of course. He didn't know anything about Perfume Genius and just focused on following us while we walked around Liam describing a circle singing aloud the scary screams.

When we were over the crowd went mad, it was something new and amazing, we weren't showing vulnerability, but power, as Stiles Hadreas once said, people tend to believe that fem was a synonym of weak, but he showed that it was quite the opposite, it was strength.

An hour later two famous Drag Queens from the state came from behind a desk I know was next to the bar, they came accompanied by two guys that looked like stylist and designers. And after a thrilling a scary ceremony the crown ended on Sunshine's head.

We lost our minds, even Cass left his work for half of a minute and while the lights flickered from all directions dazing us as we jumped hugging Liam and the judges struggled with us to him the band that read. _"Queen of Queens"_ And we were bathed by a wave of emotions and balloons.

When things calmed down a little Liam's parents showed up and hugged him with big smiles.

Okay! That broke my heart a little, it was so beautiful! Liam's parents were so supportive. It gave me hopes! It made me think that maybe…Someday, all the parents in the world could be like his, and they would see beauty and love beyond whatever was between your legs, because in the end what really matters is inside your heart, and they understood that, actually, the loved Liam exactly as he was, I couldn't see any repulse or disgust, just proudness, maybe the world was changing, maybe Craig was right, maybe I should just…Let it go.

Liam's Parents said goodbye to us when the show was over, they needed to take a flight the next day to have an eight honey moon. We decided to stay a little longer to wait for Cass and since it was opening night and they had that major event, they let him out early, so, at one in the morning, after Liam danced with almost everyone in the club we opened the doors as let the cold air of the nigh hit us.

There were still lots of people outside the other clubs, and many looked at us with interest. We were heading to the alley when someone called Liam at our backs.

It was Shaneleslie, still wearing her green gown and her wig, she ran after us with her heels in her hands.

"Wait!" She said with a grin as she approached and hugged Liam. "I'm so happy you won, you looked so beautiful tonight!"

"Thank you" Liam said adjusting his crown with proud

"You looked so stunning in your singing number and your friend's support, it made me feel jealous" Shaneleslie said pursing her lips.

"Would you like to hang out with us?" Tim asked as he pointed at the parking lot at the end of the Alley. "We're going to continue the party at a friend's loft"

"That would be great!" She said excited. "Can a pair of friends join too?"

We all nodded.

She tugged out her phone from her bra and started dialing while we walked out.

"Oh! Look at those ladies!" A mocking voice said suddenly.

My guts squirmed and we turned. We looked around, the event in the coffee shop was ending, but the mocks didn't came from there but the club right in the corner at our left. There was a gang of fifteen guys or so.

We ignored them and kept walking.

"Hey! Wait up! We want to ask you something" One of them said cracking in laughs.

"What do you want?" Liam asked sharply.

They laughed. "Oh look! A queen among us, guys please bow to her"

I rolled my eyes and balled my hands.

"I've you taken your surgery yet? I always wondered how a mutant pussy looks"

"You're just jealous of us" Liam scoffed.

They wrinkled their brows. "Really? Why I would any of us would be jealous of a sissy like you or your friends? For being the laughing stock of the city?"

"With that outfit, you don't need much help to embarrass yourself" Jim mocked.

"Look out with what you say big boy" Other guy said. "You should behave like a man, you're disgusting"

"Act like a man? Betch please we're more men that will ever be" Jim snorted.

All of the cracked in laughs.

"Yeah, I bet you're such men, when you hadn't even tasted pussy"

"We don't need to, to prove you that you're wrong. You don't know anything about being a man" Liam said angrily.

"Liam…" I said a little frightened taking him by the arm, but he let go.

"You know what? I'm sick of people like you who thinks that we're less than you just because we have other likings" Shaneleslie intervened.

"Other likings?" One of them mocked. "You…."

"We what?" Liam dared him. "We have anal sex? Can't you even say it? Is that frightening for you to say?"

"You're disgusting"

"Liam"

"Let me go Stily, you think you're so cool and whatever and think you're hilarious for making fun of us, but guess what? Deep inside you're just scared that you might be like us, that inside you ask yourself what it would be like to have dick in your ass"

"You're crazy" They laughed. "We are men, and you better stop saying shit you don't know about"

"Oh sweetie, of course I know about it, you're frightened you might be one of us, but guess what? You can't, you say you're men, but you're not for real, you want to be a man? Try to stand a dick inside of you, it hurts like a bitch, only a real man can bear it"

Their faces reddened and the bigger of them stepped ahead. "You won't tell what is to be a man, faggot"

"What's the matter? Do you want to prove you're a man?" Jim mocked. "I bet you couldn't handle a cock in that pretty ass of yours"

"Stop saying that!" The guy warned reaching closer.

"What? Dick? Cock? Ass? Am I making you feel uncomfortable?" He laughed. "And we still hadn't say anything about double dicking"

"Shut up! Shut up!" The guy roared and the rest of his friends joined him right in front of us. "You want a man inside of you so desperately? Then you'll have it"

Everything happened so fast! I'm not sure how, but suddenly my heart was throbbing and my mind clouded. One of them grabbed Liam by the arm but Cass hurried to kick the guy in the jaw making him fall on his butt.

I took Liam by the hand and pulled of him to the other side of the alley to reach the parking lot. There were screams and now people came running out of the clubs to watch what was happening.

One of them Grabbed Jim, but Cass handled him.

Liam took off his heels to run faster, with every step we took the parking lot seemed to be farther. Once we got there I searched for Jim's car when I felt a punch in the back of my neck and I felt knocking my head in the ground.

Liam screamed and then someone took him from me and dragged him out as he shrilled.

The guy who made me fall kicked me in the stomach to make me roll. The air escaped my lungs and I opened my eyes wide gasping. I couldn't breathe, I needed to stay away from him, but all my strength vanished with my air.

"Let me go! Let me go!" I heard Shaneleslie shouting.

The guy kicked me again in the stomach and tears climbed to my eyes as I desperately tried to haul air into my lungs. My mind was getting cloudy and my head spun, dazed by the darkness, the screams and the lack of oxygen.

I looked up and saw pure despair in his eyes as he rose his leg to kick me right in the face, but before he had a chance he fall to the side. I blinked while a hand came out of nowhere and helped stand.

"Are you okay?" He said with a frightened look on his faces and I shuddered. He saved me.

"Craig?" The guy who was kicking me to death said standing up suddenly.

Craig looked at him and then at me shocked. His bottom lip wobbling as he spun around as if trying to find help.

"You're a faggot!" The guy accused gaping.

"No…No…" Craig repeated over and over startled until finally he lost it and ran away from the parking lot and us.

I took my chance and ran away from him. There were so many cars and the place looked kind of desert, but when I looked twice I noticed shadows moving swiftly between the vehicles.

"Stily!" Cass said at my back.

"They got Liam!" I screamed my lungs out feeling how the panic took over me and I still tried to catch my breath, then I heard them. The unmistakable cries of my friend, cutting the air, my line of thoughts and my heart.

I lunged and ran following until I found him laying onto his stomach while the leader of those mother fuckers started to take off his pants and other two grabbed Liam.

"No! Please don't!" Liam begged squirming on the floor as a worm.

"You want a cock so badly in your ass? You'll have it"

"Let me go! Please!"

I kicked him right the chest and the guy fell on his back, the other two stood but Freddy came from behind them and choke-held one of them while Cass punched the other in the face.

I helped Liam to stand and looked around, we couldn't be that far from Jim's car.

"Help! Please!" Shaneleslie said from somewhere. My heart lurched over and over, but I couldn't find him and I still needed to put Liam in a safe place.

"We need to find her" Liam screeched at my ear.

"No! We have to…"

"Stily please! I don't want them to hurt her"

Crap! I couldn't think! Everything was happening so fast! I saw blood and people groaning all over my feet.

Cass fell. Two of them started kicking him. I let Liam go to help him but then Hip appeared and took one down what gave Cass the chance to face the other.

"Stily please!"

"Alright, let's go!" I said taking him by the arm as we dashed following the screams and cries of the poor Shaneleslie.

Behind a truck we found five of them, it was late… They were already raping her.

Tears streamed down my cheeks along with hurt, anger and something else that took over me. I jumped over the bastard over her and took him down. I kicked his chest frantically while I heard him squeal as he tried to grab my foot.

Two of them immobilized me.

"Stily!" Jim called at our backs.

Liam screamed again and the world started spinning all over. Everything went dark for half a second, my vision was bleary with a dark and thick liquid. I was lying on my back, the last thing I felt before passing out for another minute was the snapping of my nose when that son of the bitch broke it.

I lay there for two or maybe three minutes. Until I heard more noises, screams. People shocked, girl's voices and eyes over me. With the corner of my eye I saw that someone hugged Liam and other guy carried a fainted Shaneleslie in his arms.

Jim came for me and helped me stand. I still could hear fights and people cursing. I looked around and noticed that a mass of people stared at us.

One of those assholes came after me again but someone took him down with a single punch.

They grabbed Jim then kicked me in the stomach and I fell again.

"Jim!" I shrilled.

"Right there!" Someone shouted.

My head never met the floor this time, someone held me before I had a contusion.

"Cass?" I said hopefully, I couldn't see straight. Everything was cloudy and red.

"You're alright" He said with an appeasing voice.

I nodded as I blinked and recovered my strength.

"Yeah! Run mother fuckers!" Someone screamed.

"Get out of here!" More voices echoed.

"It's over?" I asked relief.

Cass nodded "They saved us" He explained as he helped me walk toward Liam and Jim.

"You're okay?" Jim asked softly touching the blood in my cheeks.

"You're a homosexual!" A voice said in shock.

Jim's face went pale and my heart skipped a beat when we turned to meet our saviors

"Stily, are you okay?" Kyle said with concern.

"Jacky…"

"Stay away from me" Jack growled storming out with long strides and I guess I did the same, because when I recovered my conscious, I was very far away from them.


	15. Chapter 15

THE FRABJOUS DAY

I don't know why I ran way. I'm not sure if I did it because Kyle and Jack just found out the truth about us, or because I still was in shock after what happened. The fact is that I fled and I felt pretty bad because of it. At least Liam and the rest of the guys were fine and those homophobes were gone.

Ten minutes after leaving I heard sirens and then saw an ambulance heading to Maddison Street. Shaneleslie was unconscious when they carried her while I was on the ground chocking with my own blood. Speaking of, I saw my reflection in a store's window and damn, I looked pretty bad. Both of my eyes were swollen and teary, my whole face was covered with dried blood and my chest ached pretty badly because of the kicks I received and the heart that lay broken inside.

I didn't want to go to my dorm. Derek would freak out as soon as he saw me and I didn't want to explain everything to him, instead I walked the thirteen streets that would take me to the hospital. It was hard to find a way to wash my face. All the places I went to use the bathroom people looked at me terrified and the managers asked me to leave, I felt like shit and scared. It was as if I didn't deserve to be treated like a human being, and I was just a gay guy with a broken nose. I bet it would have been ten times worse if I was a Drag Queen or a transwoman.

The gas station was empty and the bathroom at its side was open, so it was the only chance I got to wash myself. It was a filthy and short room with just a toilet and a sink. I let the water flow brown until it cleared and then scraped the dried blood from my fingernails, finally looked up and slowly started cleaning the skin around my nose looking at my reflection in what remained of the jagged mirror.

My nose was a bit purplish and I got a deep cut in my cheek, other than that everything was fine.

When I finished, I continued my lonely and silent walk toward the hospital. None of the betches texted or called, they were probably cleaning their own wounds and trying to process what happened with us. I know they would be concerned about me the same way I was concerned about them, but I guess we all wanted to give the others some space. I would text them in the morning when I woke up in my bed fully healthy and discovered that everything was just a nightmare.

That night I was face to face with hate itself, and it wasn't a red monster with a forked tongue or horns instead of hair. It was a young adult man with green eyes and short neck. A common person with even a more seamless face that I quickly forgot. That was the problem with all that situation. They were just common people. Theirs weren't the faces of individuals but a society itself.

When I finally reached the hospital, I realized that I didn't do a proper job cleaning myself because two women wearing lab gowns hurried to approach me and ask me if I was fine. I didn't matter how much I told them that there was nothing wrong with me, they still took me with them to make me some tests. At three am I lost my patience and started asking for Shaneleslie, the real reason I went there in the first place.

They didn't know what I was talking about. I let them there and went to reception to ask the girl behind the counter. She didn't know anything either, and then I understood the reason. Shaneleslie was just an alias, and she couldn't tell them their real name because she was unconscious when they brought her there.

I held my head sucking a breath and then was when I heard a pair of old ladies talking about the she-boy the paramedics took to intensive care and how indignant of how the hospital wasted the government's health budget in such cases when their brother had to pay for his own prosthesis.

I bit my tongue and walked away, the least thing I needed was to start another fight.

At the end of a large hall I found a door that read _"intensive care"_ Right next to it I found the betches. Liam took off his gown and the makeup; luckily he didn't have a scratch on his face. Jim and Cass' right eye were swollen. Tim's upper lip was bloody and one of his arms was wrapped around his ribs. Freddy's nose was broken and Hip was perfectly fine.

I found a place between Liam and Cass and sat there with my eyes focused in the white walls. None of us said a word for hours, thought I must admit I was a bit happy, not for what happened, but because we were fine and together and it only made me feel worse about Shaneleslie. Where were the friends she planned to invite to Jim's loft? Where was his family? Where was everybody?

At five am a woman came out to tell us that she was fine and now was in recovery. They wouldn't let us see her or anything, because we weren't related to her. After hearing that Jim stood, thanked the woman and offered me a ride to my dorm. I said no because Liam didn't want to leave, actually he didn't respond to any of us. His eyes were fixed in the nothingness and I think I know what he was looking at, himself, in that room after a surgery, lonely, victim of rape and violence. It could have been him. It could have been any of us.

I told Jim to leave and while I saw him walk away couldn't help reminding his face when Jack told him to stay away from him. It almost looked as if he mattered what Jack could think of him, but I didn't have time for that, Liam needed company and since the rest of the guys left Freddy and I were the only ones there to support him and tell him that everything was going to be fine. The problem is that I wouldn't stop asking myself…For how long?

At six a fat and violent man stormed in arguing with two nurses that kept asking him to settle down, but instead of appease him, he just went madder.

He looked at us with despise and yelled at us to leave.

We squatted in our place and trudged out. If…If that was Shaneleslie's then I lied to Liam, nothing would be fine for her.

….

In case you're wondering what were Kyle and Jack were doing in that parking lot, Jim got the answer. The concert. Jim forgot that Jack would be performing along with some local bands in the coffee shop of the Maddison Street. He asked Jim to go and he said yes when they still were friends, but now… After the way he looked at Jim in the parking lot that night, Jim knew that everything was over. The only things that Jack felt for Jim was disgust and hatred. There wasn't anything else between them, and after that night they wouldn't be friends again.

I would be lying to you if I told you that Jim could sleep that night. After seeing what happened to Shaneleslie and Jack's leaving him there, everything changed. He could hear the exact moment when his heart got broken and if that wasn't the sign he was looking for, he didn't know what else it could be.

He didn't have a drink in the club and yet he puked a lot when he came out of bed at eight to get ready for training. He didn't even know what he was doing; he shouldn't have come out of bed. After what happened the night before, the last thing he wanted in the world was to see Jack. The coach was clear when he said on Thursday that he wanted to see Jim at first hour that Saturday. The man behaved like an ass the past weeks, but now it felt like he really had hope for Jim in the team and God forbid, Jim kind of developed some liking for the game, actually, after scoring the winning goal the other day he knew that he didn't join the team just because of the project, but because inside he always felt a bit curious about it.

He washed his face and saw his right eye in the mirror after brushing his teeth, it was inflated and half-closed, there was red ring around it that he knew in matter of hours would turn dark-purple until his eye became a blackberry.

He sighed and dressed up. The practice was at nine and he already lost a lot of time getting ready in his listless way.

Shaneleslie, that stupid Drag Queen. _Why she had to follow us? _He thought. Why she didn't just stay inside the club safely? Why she had to be so nice to congratulate Liam outside in the cold and merciless world? Didn't she know that it wasn't safe? Was she foolish enough to believe that she was safe? If she would have stayed, those assholes would have just attacked us, she would be fine and Jim wouldn't feel that annoying hole in the stomach every time he thought about her bloody wig while they carried into the ambulance.

His phone rang when he approached the playing field. He picked up without seeing the remittent, but he had to admit that a spark of hope burst inside him whishing it was Jack.

"Hello?" Jim asked sternly.

"Baby…" Said a voice at the other side of the line that made his guts squirm. Shit! He forgot about her.

"Hello mother" Jim replied casually.

"What happened to you? Are you okay?"

Jim rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, mother, how did you find out?"

"Sara's son said he saw you in that new club last night. He told her what happened to you and your friends, she said one of them looked dead" She said with desperation.

"No Mother, no one…"

"Is Liam really…?"

"He is fine, mother, nothing happened to him. It was someone else, there is nothing to worry about, we are all safe and no one died"

The woman sighed with relief at the other side of the line. Jim took the curve and got into the parking lot, from there he could see that the guys were in the playing field already. His heart sunk and he gripped tight the steering wheel.

"You should come home baby, I don't…"

"I'm fine, mother, the trimester is almost over, I'll go home as soon as I'm done with my classes"

"But what if those…?"

"No one will come after me, take it easy"

"Your father is…"

"I have to go. I'll be there in a week, I love you Mother" He said cutting the call and turning off the engine.

He pressed his eyes shut and cursed when the right one started throbbing, bit his tongue and sucked a breath.

He climbed down of the car and made his way in the grass toward the middle of the field, of course everyone craned their necks while he approached, everyone but… Jack.

He held his breath and stopped right in front of them. "Where is the coach?" He asked frowning.

All the guys exchanged looks and it had to pass a whole minute before Paul replied. "He is at the store fighting with the manager because of our uniforms; they said they won't be ready at time"

Jim didn't get what he was saying. "But we got our uniforms"

"The new ones we will be using for the championship" Kev explained.

Jim sighed noticing how they looked at him, it had to be the same way people saw animals in the zoo.

"Only yours is done so far" Paul explained sighing.

"Great" Jim replied listlessly, though he was doing his best to show Jack how things still could be normal between the guys and him.

"Actually it is right here" Kev said leaning to snatch a bag that was right at his feet and drew a… Ballet skirt.

Jim balled his hands as his heartbeat increased. "You think is funny?" He roared.

"What? That you are a fairy of that you believed us?" Paul mocked.

"You're a bunch of assholes! Someone could have died! Why did you help us if you were going to mock later?"

"James, calm down" Kyle said hurrying to approach him to put a hand on his arm. "I promise I wasn't part of this"

"Yeah man, we're just kidding" Kev assured.

"It's not funny" Jim grunted.

"Actually, you looked pretty amused when you were saying those stuffs about dicks to those guys" Paul pointed out.

Jim cursed in his insides. "So… You're saying we provoked them"

"Why you people has to always go around scrubbing your fagotry in front of everyone?" Kev demanded.

Jim scoffed. "Seriously? We provoked them for walking to the parking lot? They were who started by mocking of us"

"You shouldn't have been swaging around with those freaks in the first place"

Two fights in one day, that had to be record. Or at least that what Jim thought was going to happen, because… As soon as he lumbered Garret and Aidan came out of nowhere and grabbed Jim by the shoulders, while Chad and the rest immobilized Paul and Kev.

"What? Don't tell you're with this…" Paul started but Aidan cut him off.

"You better shut up Paul"

Paul snorted. "Or what? You and your boyfriend will…"

"Enough!" Jack exploded.

It was the first time Jim ever heard him yell at someone and…It was frightening.

"Enough of this silliness, now everyone get ready for training"

"You don't give orders here Jacky" Kev mocked.

"You think so?" Jack said sharply. "Then you should go, because until the coach is here I'm in charge. Now we will have an special training session today, so close your mouths and get ready"

Kev opened his mouth to reply but Jack didn't even let him say a word.

"Kevin, fifty laps, now"

"What? Are you fucking out of your…"

"You said I wasn't good enough to be the captain? I'll prove you you're wrong, now do the fifty laps or when I finally reach the coach with my phone the first thing I'll him is about the pills you keep in your locker"

Kev paled.

"Go!"

Kev kicked the grass a couple of times and then started his jogging.

All of them now craned their necks toward Jack with shocked faces, he looked so scary right then that even Jim felt uneasy.

"Get ready all of you, let's see how good you can handle the pressure"

….

"Are you okay?" Derek's eyes almost came out of their sockets when he saw me.

I nodded listlessly and walked by him to get into my bed, but he took me by the arm and yanked me to his chest.

I gasped and held my breath as his strong arms pressed me tight against him.

"What…What happened?" He asked breaking off the embrace for a second to take a look at my face to then hug me harder.

The sun was up and shone brighter than it did in a while. As I said before, I couldn't control weather, because there was that moron, mocking of me and my friends.

"I'm fine, Derek, I promise" I whispered softly.

"Who did this to you?"

I felt how his body stirred and his heartbeat pounded violently against my ear. It was over, I was safe now. I was in his arms, and it was all I wanted. Feel protected to just forget in peace.

"It was Kyle? He…"

"No! He saved me" I said shocked as my own words echoed in my mind and dazed me.

I got texts, tons of them and all from Kyle asking me if I was okay.

None of this made sense to me.

"Saved you from what?" Derek demanded losing his patience as we broke off again and he stared at me straight in the eye.

"From a gang of homophobes that attacked us outside of the club" I muttered looking down.

Derek's chest lurched and then his grip on my arms tightened, he was almost hurting me.

"Those motherfuckers!" He growled as he cupped my face in his hands gently. "Look what they did to you, I'm gonna kill them!"

I shook my head. "Derek, leave it, okay? I'm fine, I can't even remember their faces, everything happened so fast"

"The betches? Are they okay too?" He asked with dread.

I nodded. "But there is a Drag, we met her last night, she is fine now but…They…" My breathing hitched and tears climbed to my eyes. "They raped her Derek and they hurt her so badly, she could have died" I sobbed.

He pressed me against his chest even harder this time.

"I could have save her…Liam kept telling that we had to go, that we have to find her and save her but I was so scared, Derek"

"It's fine!" He assured in a whisper.

"It's not!" I cried. "It's not! Liam asked me to, he begged me. If I have listened to him earlier, they wouldn't done that to her"

I guess he shook his head, because I felt his jaw slowly brushing my hair from a way to other. "You did all you could, you're a human being Stiles, you were scared, you were thinking in your safety first, and I'm glad you did"

We stayed like that for what looked like hours and I didn't stop crying.

"Why?" The question came out of my mouth before I even could think about it.

"Why what?" He said confused.

"Why they hate us so much?"

He didn't have an answer to that question, and I bet that if I could ask directly to them too…They wouldn't know what to say either.

"I don't wanna be gay anymore"

He chuckled. "You can't just chose to be straight, Stiles"

"It would be the best" I affirmed. "I just don't get it. Every time I think things are getting better something like this happen"

We broke off one last time and he looked at me with one of his dork smirks that made me smile and hate him at the same time, because I just wanted to cry.

"Stiles you were born gay, you can't change that and you shouldn't want to, you're perfect just the way you are"

I rolled my eyes.

"If being gay is so good, why so many bad things happen to us all the time?"

He snorted. "Stiles, bad things happen every day in the world, not just you. Just look at me, I lost my best friend for months and thought that he wouldn't want to look at me ever again"

I laughed. _Asshole! Stop making me laugh! I'm sad! I'm crying! You can't just make me smile when I feel this way. _

"Can we…Just sleep a little? I'm exhausted" I said hoping that when I woke up things could be a little better.

He nodded. "Of course"

I closed the window and then got into his bed when my phone rang, I was tired and all I wanted was a bit of sleep, but since all the things that happened the night before I couldn't just vanish, the betches could need me, and actually, I was right.

"Tim? Is everything okay?" I asked afraid of the answer I could get.

"Yeah" He said with tiredness. "I just wanted to know if you could go and check Liam, we are all working, Cass fell like rock on his bed and I'm… Kind of concerned about him, you know? He keeps saying that he is fine, but it's hard to believe him considering what happened"

"Okay, I'm on my way" I said happy to know that it wasn't bad news.

"What happened?" Derek asked with concern.

I shook my head. "Nothing, I just have to go to check if Liam's fine"

"I'll go with you"

"No, you don't have to, is fine" I affirmed.

"He is my friend too, Stiles" He reminded me taking his car keys from the nightstand.

Twenty minutes later I was knocking the door of Liam's house, well, I was starting to feel anxious and a bit scare after the time passed and there was no response. I called his phone and it was shut down, which made me shiver. I started to feel desperate fearing the worse, but then Derek made me aside and knocked the door.

"Liam!" He said loudly. "Please, open the door"

"What do you want?" He said sadly when he opened.

There were big bags under his eyes, which meant that he hadn't sleep at all, though he was wearing a pajama. I guess he tried, but I bet every time he closed his eyes he saw their faces above him and the fear took over his body.

"We just wanted to know if you were okay" Said Derek calmly as he got inside without waiting for Liam to invite us in.

Liam rolled his eyes and stepped to the side to let me in.

Liam's home was a bit lugubrious and tense. I can't explain with words, but it looked right how I felt. I'm not saying that it was a mess or anything like it, is just that…It was like it wasn't his home, it used to be a funny place for no reason, now…It was just gloomy.

"You parent's left?" I asked noticing how quiet everything was.

"Yeah, they must be in the resort by now" He said listlessly as we followed Derek to the kitchen, who without even asking permission started making hot chocolate.

"Why you didn't tell them?" I muttered as we sat at the table and looked at Derek going from here to there.

"Why I would do that? It would ruin their vacations"

"Because they have to know Liam, you can't just hide something this big from them, you can't just pretend to be alone in here until god knows when"

"What I would want to go out?" He said with despise. "To get raped? To be murdered? To be told that I worth half that anyone else because I'm a freak?"

"You're not a freak" Derek simply said.

"Wow! Thanks for saying it Derek, I felt better now" Replied Liam wryly.

Damn! I didn't know what to do or say, I felt powerless with this whole situation, so, I just waited for Derek to say something else, but it seemed like he was speechless too.

"Here" He suddenly said putting two mugs of steaming hot chocolate in front of us.

The scent of mine made me feel revitalized and strong, chocolate was always good in hard times. Derek was such a wise dork.

Liam didn't even bother to peer at his, his eyes were focused in the horizon, just like they did in the hospital. He was seeing it, over and over again in his mind. Why he tortured himself that way? It wasn't his fault! It was mine for not going sooner for Shaneleslie!

I parted my lips but he cut me off.

"Anthony Williams" He simply said without moving a muscle.

"Who?" I asked frowning.

"Anthony Williams" He repeated. "That's Shaneleslie's real name. I asked a nurse to call me if something happened"

I held my breath. "Oh my god! Don't tell that…"

He shook his head. "Anthony woke up recently, they said he will be fine"

I smiled. "Those are great news"

"Great news? He will have to live the rest of his life knowing what happened to him, knowing that he was alone in the world when it happened, there wasn't a friend to help him or anything!" Liam roared.

"He will have them now" Derek affirmed sternly. "You can stay here all you want feeling sorry for yourself Liam, but Anthony is out there, needing a friend more than anything in the world right now and that could be you"

Liam and I looked at Derek openmouthed.

"They won't let me see him" Liam reminded us.

"He will come out eventually, and it would be nice for him to discover that there is people waiting for him outside of that hospital, people that's happy to know that he is alive"

A tear rolled down Liam's round cheeks and fell on his chocolate.

"I'm not saying he will be fine right after all this ends, but with your guys help, I bet that one day he will be able to smile again"

Liam started sobbing and stood suddenly to hug Derek. I can't explain but…I felt a bit jealous, I know it was wrong, but, I don't know… I always thought that only I had the right to find shelter in his arms, it was like finding out that someone else was living in my own home, but I also understood how painful all this was for Liam and felt so proud of Derek for being the best person anyone could ever met in their life.

I didn't deserve him, after the way I treated him that year. I knew I didn't deserve Derek's friendship at all, and still…He never gave up on me.

….

"Kyle!" Jack called aloud.

"Yeah?" Kyle said casually.

"How many pushups you can do in a minute?"

Kyle frowned. "Fifty, maybe sixty"

Jack scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Alright, you all will do one hundred and twenty"

"What? Are you insane?" Aidan said shocked.

"What's the matter rookie? Do you think you're not better than Kyle?"

"No… I said that…"

"The coach is right, you all think that Kyle is the only one who do something in here, let me remind you that if wasn't for Garret we wouldn't be in Sunset Valley in the first place, so, if you think you are safe behind Kyle's shadow then you can go now"

"What happened to you?" Chad grunted. "You're acting like crazy"

"Isn't this what you wanted? A captain who gives orders? A captain who represents you? Now go!"

Everyone rolled their eyes and began doing their pushups.

Jim started gasping. He didn't know where Jack found a whistle but he blew it every time someone fell and as punishment put them to do squats.

"Faster!" He ordered in the third round.

Jim was sure he didn't even reach thirty with every session, but at least Jack wasn't yelling at him as he did to the poor Garret when he crumbled on the floor doing the squats.

"Done!" He suddenly announced.

"Now! Let's make a circuit, we will do our usual routine but a little faster, we will make an exercise, run two laps and then the other"

"What's the matter? Are you crazy? I can barely breath" Jim said gasping.

"What? Is this training session too hard for you Taylor?" Jack growled without even looking at him.

Taylor? Seriously?

Jim did catch his breath with a hand on his sides. "I'm just saying that maybe we could slow down things a little"

Jack snorted. "Only a girl would say such thing"

Jim heard giggles at his back and balled his hands. _So this is what it is all about. _

"Are you a girl Taylor?"

More giggles. "No" Jim grumbled.

"What did you say? I can't hear your soft little voice"

"I'M NOT A GIRL!"

"What are you?"

"I'm a man"

"What are you?"

"I'M A MAN"

"Prove it" Jack blew the whistle and Jim started doing the warming up exercises followed by the rest of his team mates.

"Jesus! What's wrong with him?" Aidan asked next to Jim while they did the squats.

"The same shit that happened to the rest of you" Jim said sharply.

"Wow! Wait! I was about to go to your place to look for you but right then you showed up" Aidan said moodily.

Jim snapped shocked. "Why?"

"Because I thought you would chicken out, that after everyone knew about your likings, you would quit the team"

Jim gasped, but not for the squats but because he didn't expect Aidan to… Well, he was kind of an ass sometimes, but Jim didn't know he cared about him.

"Betch, you don't know shit about me, do you really think that I care what this bunch of assholes think? Jacky wants to play? We'll play"

Aidan smirked. "What you got in mind?"

Jim shook his head. "Nothing yet, but we will see"

Jack blew his whistle.

They went at the borderline to start jogging the two laps. Jim was the first to get there and the faster of all, now he thanked for the coach's punishment. It increase his endurance to a new level, they couldn't catch up with him. He was fast and could handle almost anything Jack threw to them.

Jim couldn't help smiling please seeing Jack's frustrated face after noticing that most of the guys were almost done with just three rows, even Kyle, but Jim…Jim still could do another twenty rows.

"Where's the coach?" He asked when slowed his pace to talk to Aidan.

"No one knows" Aidan frowned. "He didn't pick his phone when we called to ask him why he hadn't come yet"

"Aidan, Taylor! Less chatting and more running, or is that all you got?"

Jim rolled his eyes. "That's what I say to you Mr. Captain! Is that all you got? I thought we would do a men's activities, but this is more like girls scout's boot camp"

The rest of the guys yelled awful things at Jim. Jack looked at them and then at Jim who smiled pleased.

Jack's face reddened. "You're right! It's time for do some real training!"

"Great! I've been waiting the whole day!"

"Get a room" Aidan whispered at Jim's ear

"Shut up" Jim replied jabbing him in the ribs.

"Everyone, come here now!" Jack ordered. "You too Kev"

All of them gathered around him. "What now?" Kev asked when he joined them in the middle of the field.

"You all wanted me to quit as the captain…"

"Oh god! This crap again?" Paul rolled his eyes.

Jack ignored him. "So…Why don't we try to walk with someone else's shoes for once and see what is like to be them?"

Everyone frowned, what the hell was he talking about?

"Taylor!"

Crap! Jim rolled his eyes. "You proved that you have improved more than anyone else in matter of months"

Jim arched a brow wondering what could have crossing Jack's mind now.

"But do you really have what it takes to play any position?"

Jim was about to reply something snarky but Jack rose a hand to shut him and continued speaking. "Go to the goal and try Kev's place while Paul tries to score"

Jim snorted. "That's it? That is your amazing mastermind plan _captain?"_

Jack went to the locker room, came back with the sack of balls and put them all at Paul's feet looking at Jim with a smirk on his lips.

Jim stared at him defiantly and walked to the goal.

He stood there facing the rest of the team while Paul arranged the balls in a single row before Jim and went to the first one.

"Let's see if you are as good as you claim to be"

Paul giggled. "I bet this you can't wait to put a hand on my balls"

Jim prepared himself and squinted. "I bet you fancy the idea of me grabbing your balls"

Jack blew the whistle and Paul shot. It came flying at high speed at Jim's left, he could see it perfectly. He lurched and stopped it.

Another one came to his right. He jumped. Left, center, right, right, left. Damn! Jim wouldn't be able to stop them all! At some point he would… He did it! None of them hadn't slip yet! Wow! Damn that he was fast! _Ha! Take that Jacky! _

Jack's face became even redder and now he made signs to the rest of the guys to join Paul and he did it too.

Jim was bathed by a rain of soccer balls that eventually not just got into the goal but also hit him in every inch of his body. When one of Kev's touched his swollen eyes Jim groaned and threw himself on the floor holding his face and gasping.

"See? You're not that good!" Jack pointed out.

Jim's eye hurt too much to let him stand and reply to him and kick his stupid ass for acting like an asshole!

"Oh please! Don't tell me you'll cry"

"Jack" Kyle and Aidan said at once.

"Big boys don't cry"

"Jack" Garret joined them.

"Oh my bad! I forgot you're not a…"

"You think you're cool just because you made the whole team to kick balls at me?" Jim laughed and spitting on the grass as he stood.

"I…"

"You what _Jacky?_ Did you prove anything at all? Other than the fact that you can't handle that a fairy is better than you!"

Jack scoffed. "Anyone here is better player than you'll ever be"

"Prove it! Come here and take my place, and then we will see who cries in the end"

All the eyes were on them. Jack stood in silence and he probably feared that the guys thought he would chicken out if he didn't, so in the end he walked toward Jim as he kicked the balls out of the goal.

Kyle rolled his eyes at Jim when he started gathering the balls and arranging them in a row along with Aidan. When he was done he stood in the middle and looked at Jack straight in the eye. He couldn't see anything in them but hatred. It was the same look he got the night before from that gang, his was the face of intolerance and ignorance. That was the real Jacky, Jim was a fool for falling for him.

He kicked, Jack stopped it. He kicked again and Jack caught the ball anew.

He kicked and kicked and kicked and Jack jumped, flinched and missed a ball.

He kicked harder and faster and now Jack couldn't stopped them, they were getting the hole fast and furiously. They hit him in the knee, in the chest. In the head, in the head, in the head, in the head, in the head, in the head.

"James!" Kyle took him by the arm suddenly and Jim snapped.

"What?"

"Enough with this ridiculousness" Kyle grunted.

Jim snorted and tilted his head toward Jack, who was sitting in the grass holding his head as he looked at Jim openmouthed.

"Don't you see what's happening? We're a not a team anymore! With this kind of behavior we won't last a second in Sunset Valley"

Jim blinked and came back to Jack, but he was already striding to the locker room without saying anything else.

Jim slowly turned on his heels and found out that everyone looked at him with despise and disappointment.

"Jack changed the moment he showed up" He heard Chad whisper not too far from him.

What the fuck? They were seriously blaming him? After the way they treated him early that morning?

"Guys, I think that we should do the common things we use to do, until we know what happened with the coach" Kyle said quietly.

They all nodded and turned.

Kyle put a hand on Jim's shoulder. "You can join us, with no bullying, if you still want to be part of the team"

"What about Jack?" Garret asked.

"Leave him, he will have to come out eventually" Kyle affirmed walking to the middle of the field with the rest of the guys.

"Aren't you coming?" Aidan asked.

Jim nodded. "Just give me a second" He replied without detaching his eyes from the locker room's door.

The guys started a game, they ran and scored goals, they cracked in laughs and they pushed Jim twice because he was in their way. The minutes passed, but Jack didn't came out. Shi! How that is all this now was his fault? It was a crime to be gay? If they hated gays why they saved us in the first place? What did that mean? Anyone could be gay but not Jim? Was that the message? Jack was so stupid! And childish, he hated him, Jim hated Jackson Whittemore and now all he wanted was to kick his ass, because he was the one who started to act like an ass in the first place! It was all his fault! No Jim's, he got nothing to do, he just came to training!

He was sick of this shit, he was going over and tell Jack that he could go to hell if he wanted, but Jim wouldn't quit the team, he was there to stay, even when no one wanted him in anymore. He would stay just to piss Jack off.

He walked, no, he ran, feeling the breeze on his nape. He got into the locker room and kicked the door open.

It was dark and quiet. It got the usual stench of sweat and dirty socks, but he couldn't see any sign of…

A sob.

Jim stretched his ear. He hard it again.

Another sob. He wasn't imagine it.

He walked slowly to the lockers at his left and now could listen to it even louder, a hitched breath made him feel uneasy and angry. What a stupid boy! Jack was so... He couldn't stand him, why he was such a pussy?

Jim came out from behind the locker furiously. Jack was sitting on a bench covering his face with his hands. His chest lurched forward, his ear were red and he was letting out the most heartbreaking moan anyone could ever listen to.

"GROW UP!" Jim yelled at him.

Jack didn't respond.

"Can't you understand that the asshole in all this was you? You're twenty three for Chris sake! Stop acting like a kid!"

Jack didn't respond.

Jim stopped with some concern and reached him taking him by the hand and yanking it out of his face.

Jack fought back but Jim pulled harder until Jack stood and Jim released shocked making him fall.

Jack landed on his butt with his reddish face full of tears and his eyelids swollen for crying so much, and even then, and even when Jim looked at him with such despair, he wouldn't stop crying like a baby. It wasn't because of Jim, it was something else.

Jim's heart lurched and he kneeled feeling how they air escaped from his lungs.

"Jacky" He whispered putting a hand on Jack's shoulder. "What happened Jacky?"

Jack sniffed and looked at Jim straight in the eye.

"Emily just died"

….

We spent the whole day with Liam. I was pretty exhausted and all I wanted was get in bed, but the betches were right, Liam wasn't fine at all and needed our support. Derek made a big change of course, since we got there and Derek talked to him his mood rose a bit. He smiled a couple of times and even called me Sweetie once, as he was used to. He eventually fall fast asleep, Derek swore me that he didn't put any pills on his coke while we watched one of those romantic comedies that Liam loved so much.

We stared at him for hours, I didn't know what he was dreaming about, but it had to be a nice dream because he got a smirk on his face that made me feel hopeful and pleased.

"Thank you" I whispered to Derek gratefully.

Derek just stood from the couch and brought me more hot chocolate.

After a few sips I felt too how my mood rose. I don't think it was the theobromine, it was something else. How things calmed down a bit, how Derek became the person I admired more in the world, or maybe it was just the way he selflessly took care about us, god! I bet that if all the betches were going through a crisis at the same time, he would find a bed big enough to cuddle with us all until everything got better.

That was the thing about Derek, he talked too much and very often. He loved studying and felt proud of being a dork and was the nicest person you would ever meet, if you weren't stupid enough to kick him out of your life as I almost did.

Freddy got a key of Liam's house. Of course he did. They weren't much alike but anyone always believed that they were brothers.

Without saying a word he nodded to thank us for being there with Liam. Derek stood and made him signs that it was time for us to go. I agreed with him and we made our way to his car.

Back in our dorm, we got into Derek's bed and as soon as I lay my head on the pillow, I felt fast asleep.

When I woke up Derek was gone, and I can't explain why but a wave of panic took over me. It was like being in that parking lot again. The shadows of my room took shapes of men and monsters that loomed and grew sharper and scarier. I sucked a breath and closed my eyes when I heard they knocked the door.

I came out of bed, turned on the light and found Kristie standing in the doorway.

"Hey Stily" She said happily.

I sighed and smiled. "Hey" I replied listlessly.

"Kyle says sorry for not coming but he got an emergency with the team and then got to work"

I blinked confused.

"Let's hang out somewhere" She offered.

I stood there, very confused, why…Why was she threating me that way?

"Kristie… What are you doing here?" I replied struggling with my still dazed brain.

"Kyle told me what happened to you last night, and since I got nothing else to do other than live through other people I said…'Hey let's check Stily out'"

I rolled my eyes.

"Come on! It will be fun!"

"I'm kind of sleepy you know? Couldn't sleep much and I'm don't think you know what you're talking about"

"About your liking for dicks?" She arched a brow.

My heart skipped a beat and I shrugged, which was stupid because at that point I knew she had to know.

"It's okay Stily, everyone loves dicks" She affirmed and then frowned. "I mean, not everyone" Giggled. "But, there is nothing wrong with that, is just like another flavor of ice-cream, most people likes vanilla and you rather banana split, big deal"

Oh Christ! She was a bitch, I would have laughed if I didn't feel pretty bad for the way I woke up and because of the fact that I wanted to go back to bed. "Thanks"

"So? Are we going out? I want to go to the ice ring"

"It opened already?"

She nodded. "So?"

"I'll pass, I got a pretty rough night and I want to sleep, maybe next time"

Her stare darkened with sadness. "You should put some ice on that"

"Oh hey!" Derek showed up suddenly from behind her. He got some bags of takeout with him.

Kristie slowly turned and her eyes almost popped out of her head. "Hey you, I don't remember asking for a hot delivery guy, but I'm glad you came"

I rolled my eyes. "He is my roommate, Derek"

She blinked and then snapped and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, roomie"

Derek frowned at both of us as he stretched her hand. "Nice to meet you too, I guess"

"She's Kyle's girl" I explained blushing.

"Um…Want to join us?" He said rising the bags. "I got some tacos"

She shook her head. "I have to go, but I guess I'll see you later Stily" She spun back to me and winked as she mouthed. "He is cute"

I chuckled.

Derek came inside and Kristie hugged me tight. "I'm glad you're okay Stily, remember to put some ice on that eye okay?"

I nodded and looked back make sure Derek wasn't listening. "Kristie…Is Kyle mad at me?"

She took a minute to think her answer en then parted her lips. "No, he is…A bit confused, and actually we both want to ask you a couple of questions about Allison and you"

I chugged. "I'm so sorry, I just asked her to pretend to be my girl because…I was kind of scare that if Kyle knew I was gay he wouldn't like to hang out with me anymore" I lied.

She looked at me bewildered. "So… You never were a couple?"

I saw a flicker in her eyes and my stomach plunged down, she was puzzled or scared?

I shook my head. "I'm really sorry, I never wanted all this to get this mess or any of you to hate me"

"He doesn't hate you dummy, he is concerned, that's all"

I nodded.

"I'll see you later" She smiled and kissed my cheek.

I sighed and closed the door.

….

Everything happened so fast that Jim still didn't know how he ended up in that bar. He had to take a few sips from his beer to ease his mind and recall the whole scene in his mind again, though…It wasn't a good idea. It was too painful to bear.

"How…How? Why? Are you sure?" His own voice echoed in his mind as he swallowed and he came back to the locker room.

"Of course that I'm sure! Paige just called me!" Jack roared with tears streaming down his red cheeks.

Jim turned and turned and the world spun and the light blinded him. It had to be a mistake, it couldn't …"The concert! You…"

"I got the money" Jack affirmed hoarsely. "But her surgery wasn't scheduled until two weeks ahead"

"Then why…? She was fine Jacky, she looked healthy" None of that made any sense.

"Everyone thought she was fine, until a couple of months ago, no one told her anything to not scare her. I heard the truth just two weeks ago, but they promised, they promised she would be fine"

Jim gasped and bit his lip. Why? Why Emily? Why such thing would happen to any of the kids? They were good! They were funny and cute and beautiful.

Jack started sobbing harder and Jim felt a pang in the chest. It was so painful to look at him in that state. He kneeled and hugged Jack and Jack hugged him back, but them snapped and pushed Jim away from him making him stumble until he crashed with the lockers at his back.

"Don't!" Jack roared like a feral animal. "Don't mock of me! You lied! You lied all this time, you didn't like Emily or any of the kids"

Jim shook his head. "No!" He said panting staring as his shaking hands. He couldn't lose it, not right now. Jack needed him. "I loved her, she was such a…."

"You told me everything was a lie! Stop playing with me, I don't believe you anymore"

"No Jacky" Jim whispered breathless. "I lied to you that night at your home, I never meant any of the things I said, I promise"

Jack slowly rose his face to Jim blinking. "I don't believe you"

Jim cursed in his insides. That was the problem with playing to the boy who cried wolf, at some point people would stop believing in anything you said.

"I'm sorry if I lied to you, but you have to believe me, I care about the kids, I cared about Emily"

"Then why you didn't go to the concert to help?"

Jim's heart skipped a beat. Jack was right, why he didn't go? Actually, he just forgot about it, but… That wasn't an excuse, he had rather hang out with the betches for Liam's event and just look at how things turned out, it felt was if the universe was punish him right now.

Jack's breathing steadied and he stood. "I need a drink" Said so he walked to the door.

"What are you talking about? Wait!" Jim called aloud at his back.

Jack ignored him and walked off.

The sun burned Jim's pupils when he came out. Kyle came running straight to him with a pointy look on his eyes.

"What the hell happened now?"

Jim sighed. "One of the kids where we volunteer died"

Kyle gaped. "I thought…"

Jim shook his head. "Look, I have to go after him, if the coach shows up, just tell him what happened okay?"

Kyle nodded.

Jim ran after Jack while bit a bit the guys stopped their game to crane their necks toward both of them and Jim gasped. It seemed like the distance between they both just dwelled with every step he took.

Jack finally stopped to catch his breath next to the passengers' seat of Jim's car.

He reached him and opened the door. "I'll take you home"

Jack shook his head. "If you really want to help, take me to a bar"

Jim balled his hands. "What do you want to prove?" He roared.

"I just want to calm my nerves, that's all" Jack affirmed sharply.

They got inside and as soon as Jim turned on the engine, Jack rested his head against the window and started sniveling again, and he didn't stop until Jim found a not very much crowd place where they could have some drinks and clear things out.

And that's how he ended up in there. Below that filthy lamp that made him feel as if he was inside an interrogatory room, mostly because apart from three other costumers and the barman, the place was almost empty, and also because a half-drunk Jack kept looking at him with his swollen eyes, expecting for an answer.

"Why?" Jack repeated taking a sip from his rum.

Jim looked away.

"Why would God allow this to happen?" He kept saying as more and more tears streamed down his cheeks and the people looked at them with concern.

In other life, Jim would have said to him to calm down, to act like a grown man, but he couldn't find those sentences in his mind anymore. He didn't know what was wrong or right anymore, he couldn't even comfort Jack properly. He just stayed there in silence.

"I bet you're enjoining this, don't you?"

"How can you say that?" Jim grunted in low voice. "She was my friend too"

"I'm talking about what I just said, it…Felt like...I was questioning my faith"

"I can't do anything about that Jacky, you can chose to believe in everything you want. I just think is a bit dumb to blame the bearded guy for what happened, it sucks and it hurts pretty bad, but…Stuffs like this happen every day in the world, just because we didn't come through them before, doesn't mean that they don't happen"

"You talk too optimistic to be an atheist" Jack shot, taking a long sip from his cup without even grimacing.

Jim scoffed. "I never said I was an atheist"

Jack gaped. "But you never say you believed in God"

Jim blinked. "I'm…I'm not sure if I believe, but if I did I would say that Emily is in a better place now"

"You don't believe in him because you're a homosexual, and you know you'll burn in hell forever after you die" Jack said with despise.

A knot tied in Jim's stomach after hearing that, but he didn't even blink.

"You won't say anything?" Jack arched a brow, finishing his drink and pouring some more from his bottle.

"What do you want me to say? That you all heterosexuals are the same?"

Jack's face reddened. "How can you manage to say heterosexual and turn it into an offense?"

"The same way you use homosexual against me, I would even rather you to call me fag"

"Is that Stiles your lover?" He asked and beyond the despise Jim could see curiosity.

Jim shook his head.

"Don't lie to me, I saw the way you touched him last night" Jack grumbled.

Jim rolled his eyes. "He is my best friend and was covered in blood, what did you want me to do?"

Hurt darkened Jack's stare. "So, he is your best friend" His voice cracked. "Which means that you lied to me, when you said that I was"

Okay! Let's make a pause in here! What the fuck? Jackson Whittemore was jealous of me? Seriously? Oh come on Jim! Look at him! Look how hurt he was! Oh, and by the way, I don't remember Jim telling Jack that he was his best friend, do you?

Jim pressed his lips in a thin line and sucked a breath to ease his heartbeat.

"Why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't lie Jacky, I just…Thought you would be better without me in your life"

"Because you are in love with me and couldn't handle to see me happy with Beverly, don't you?" Jack said those words with utter hatred and Jim almost felt the need to hit him in the face.

_Yes._ "No" He half-lied very convincingly. "Why you straight guys are so bigheaded to think that everyone is in love with you?"

Jack took a sip embarrassed. "I… Don't…."

"Just because I'm gay doesn't mean that automatically I feel attracted to every guy I meet, and for the record, I rather tanned men"

Jack kept drinking without replying, he was speechless and Jim felt a bit pleased to crush his ego.

"Then why did you say all those stuffs to me?" Jack finally said after a silence that lasted almost twenty minutes.

"I told you, I'm not a good a person and you kept believing that I was, and yeah I kind of hated you in the beginning and the idea of putting Kyle as the captain was mine after all, but I did that when I still didn't know you for real, when I didn't trust you"

Jack opened another bottle.

Jim gaped, for someone who wasn't used to drink, he endured it pretty well.

"I was afraid that if you knew the truth about me, you would hate me and wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore"

"So, that's why you pretended that Ashely was your girlfriend"

Jim nodded.

Jack swallowed. "You're right"

Jim looked up at him and now could see it. Jack was drunk, not just half-drunk or a bit drunk, but wasted, he couldn't even stay straight up without swaying.

"Right about what?"

"I hate you"

Jim could swear his heart stopped beating for a whole minute, and when he finally recovered of the awful pain that involved listening those words from the guy he loved, he stood. "It's time to go"

"I'm not done yet" Jack grunted.

"I don't care, let's go"

Aided by the barman Jim got Jack into his car and started to drive toward the guy's home.

"You shouldn't have drunk this much, your mom…"

"I don't wanna go home" Jack whispered a bit lucid.

"Are you crazy? You need to sleep it off, tomorrow is the funeral isn't it?"

It took almost ten minutes for Jack to reply. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

"Are you kidding? After all the shit…"

"Please"

Jim's heart squirmed in his chest. He gasped and took the return path knowing he would regret his decision. Just for the record I'm gonna say that Jack was an asshole and Jim was the very good person, I can't believe how tables turned for our two little birds.

Dragging Jack out of the car to the elevator was one of the hardest things Jim ever did in his life. He was dead weight, at some point in the way to the building, he felt fast asleep while Jim tumbled down helping him walk.

When Jim opened the door Jack woke up instantly. "I won't sleep in the same bed as you"

Jim dropped him and Jack fell knocking his head on the floor. He partially did it by the surprise, and mostly because of the anger he felt for how ungrateful Jackson Whittemore could be.

"Don't worry, I'll sleep in the couch and you can stay in my room"

"No" Jack said breathless as he tried to stand up helped by the coffee table. "I can stay in the couch, thank you very much"

Jim rolled his eyes and went to his room to get some clean mattress, he could have offered him the spare room –my room- but he was so mad at Jack right then, that the least thing Jim wanted was to talk to him.

He brought the mattress while Jack took of his shoes to lay in the couch.

Jim left them in the coffee table and spun to go to his room when Jack's hand took him by the wrist and pull him toward him.

It seemed like he was a bit lucid again, because as soon as Jim faced him he threw his arms at Jim's neck and started sobbing loudly. "She was my friend" He cried drunk by the alcohol and grief. "She was my friend"

Jim gave him a pat in the back awkwardly and then he lost it and hugged him. He wanted to do that from the moment he heard the news and finally he was brave enough to let go, but Jack didn't let him chance to get fond to the embrace, because he let go and stopped in half of the way.

Their eyes met. Even in the dim light of the living room Jim could see Jack's azure eyes shining with bright like ice fire, with hatred, with fear, pain, sadness and so many things that Jim almost gasped, it was impossible for a human to have such burden in the back, Jackson Wood's was in his breaking point, if there was something beyond crying for hours helplessly.

"I…Should go" Jim muttered unable to detach his eyes from him, but Jack wouldn't let him go.

He was standing there, holding Jim tight with his arms and his stare. "I want…" Jack whispered softly.

Jim shivered.

"I want to hate you"

Jim blinked and hardened his glance.

"But I can't"

Jim gaped and felt how his heart pounded hard against his chest, he was afraid Jack could hear it.

"It doesn't matter if you don't believe in God, because now I know that he believes in you"

And said so Jack fell asleep again. What the hell that supposed to mean?

Jim let him on the couch and covered him with the mattress.

He turned the off the remaining lights and got into his bed. It wasn't a surprise for him to discover he couldn't just sleep. He took his phone from the nightstand and tapped the pictures' app.

There she was, with her tiny face, her round eyes and big smile. Jim hated Jack, for what he did to him in the playing field, for the things he said about gays, for how he treated him in the bar, but he specially him for being weak. Didn't he see that Jim was hurt too? Didn't he see that Jim needed words of encouragement too? That he was crumbling and he didn't allow it just because of him? It shouldn't have been Jim holding Jack. It should have been Jack keeping the pieces of him together, because Jim just couldn't hold it back anymore, what happened to Emily just finished to tear him apart. He was broken beyond repair, and for the first time in years, he was crying in his bed.

….

Derek found a steak in the fridge and put it over one of my eyes. It was a little cold and stinky, but I couldn't complain. It eased the pain. I felt like I didn't have strength and before you say that I whiny bitch, let me tell you that I just was exhausted because I hadn't sleep much the past days. Of course I was also a bit sad for all the crap I've lived before, but since I had Derek with me I had nothing to worry about.

Speaking of Derek…I still hadn't apologized to him at all for, lying, yelling, telling him that I he was jealous of me, use him for the project without his consent –the day I put the camera in his sweater- for using to cook for Kyle, for not speaking to him in months, for kissing his girl and of course for not telling him that she cheated on him with the girl of the guy whose life I wanted to destroy. I wasn't going to do the last one of course, at least not until Allison and Kirstie sorted things out between them. The played it cool and acted like nothing happened, but of course you just had to mention one in front of the other to see how their faces tensed and of course…Still was the fact that they hadn't be in the same place for weeks and considering the mess our lives were, it should have happened eventually, but it didn't because…They were avoiding each other.

Coming back to Derek. I had to apologize to him. I felt worse of enjoining his company so much considering all the unsaid things and issues that kept us apart for so long, but I didn't feel brave to do it. It was like…I didn't learn anything from all the things I lived the past six month, I was the same Stily, who couldn't even bear to look at himself in the mirror, who hid under the covers every time something went wrong. It was upsetting. Normally people tend to look at the past and think about how their lives used to be and compare that with the person they were now, but I was in the place I started and it was frustrating and sad.

Derek and I spent most of the Saturday watching movies, playing video games and being ourselves. It was good to clear the mind and forget a bit about everything. The betches called in the afternoon to ask me if I wanted to hang out with them at Liam's place, but I could barely open my eye and if you have been paying attention you probably know that not in a millions years I would go out of my dorm looking like E.T. I had enough of humiliation the past days.

I also got calls and texts from Kyle, and that was a bit scary, despite of what Kristie said, I wasn't looking forward to talk to him. At least not yet. I know I had to thank him for saving my ass and the betches', and I also owed him an explanation of the big farce that my life was. The problem about all this conversation was that I got mixed feelings. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I could tell him all the truth and risk to end up in a hospital. Or I could tell a half-lie and jut clear some things for him. It got his benefits, I mean, I wasn't going to die and plus…I could conserve his friendship if he could get over the fact that I was gay.

I hoped the last one worked. I know this is kind of stupid and everything else, but I liked Kyle, and before you say that I had a…Okay I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he saved, that he looked so concerned when he recognized me or more importantly…That he wouldn't stop texting and calling. He was there for me like he promised and that was killing me because…Because my heart skipped a beat everything I found his name in the status' bar of my phone. I don't know, maybe it was all the rescue operative, or maybe that he wouldn't let me alone and even when he was so busy with his finals and work, he found time to think about me that…I God. I won't say it. I just…Can't, because if I admit that maybe I could have minuscule feelings for him my life would turn into hell again.

It was better to forget the whole issue and focus on the movie. I wasn't even sure why Derek was laughing so hard, considering that we were watching a horror movie, go to see how was Jim. I was pretty busy giggling with my dork best friend.

….

Jim turned off the alarm before it could even start blaring. Surprise! He couldn't sleep at all. He came out of bed and as soon as his feet touched the floor he found himself inside the center running in the long hallways while he heard her steps, coming from here to there trying to find them, to reach them.

He recalled the moment she came out of the blue and found him hiding behind the laundry basket with Jack. How they exchanged glances and burst in laughs. Just minutes ago Jack told him how those kids were his friends, his angels. Now Emily was a real angel. Jim was sure of that, she was a good girl, he couldn't understand how this could happen to her, to any of them. Why life was so cruel to condemn them to count every minute, wondering if they will be alive in the next?

He got into the bathroom and washed his face. His black eye looked worse than yesterday, and now was also red for the lack of sleep. When he was brushing his teeth the bell rang.

Jim cursed and came out. When he got into the living room he almost choked by the reeking scent of the alcohol that came out of Jack's mouth in the couch.

He opened the door and surprise! Guess who was there?

"James!" Mrs. Whittemore said hurrying to hug him tight.

"Mrs. Whittemore" Said Jim shocked. "What are…How do you know where I live?"

The woman let him go and glanced down with sadness. "Jackson sent messaged me early in the morning, to tell me where he was and not to worry, but I couldn't just not worry, ¿Did he…Do that to you?" She asked embarrassed with wide eyes look at Jim's eye.

He shook his head. "I had an accident in the shower" Lied.

"Is he…Alright?"

Interesting question. Jim didn't even know how he was. He just wanted to go back to bed. "I think he just needs a bit of rest"

"Jackson!" The woman called aloud.

"I…" Started grimacing for the high pitched voice tone of the woman. "I think he's still asleep"

"This late?" She said openmouthed. "I'm so concerned about him, James"

"You need to understand him, He loved Emily very much" Jim's voice cracked in her name.

"Maybe it would be better if he stays here with you a little longer, the kids have an event in the church's summer camp. I don't want him to be alone at home" She muttered. "Could you please take care of him James?"

He chugged and then nodded.

"I won't grow tired of saying this, you're the loveliest young man I've ever known"

Jim didn't know what to reply. He wasn't in the mood to be polity with her.

"Oh! I almost forget" She said looking at the bags in her hands "I brought breakfast for you boys"

"Thank you" He said genuinely, he didn't want to cook and Jack needed to eat something.

"Can I just come inside a minute? I want to see him" She was already inside before finishing her sentence.

She walked in and in matter of seconds she felt the stench that Jack let go. Jim was lucky he didn't puke on his couch at least.

She chocked a cry when she found him resting in there. "He…Drank….Alcohol?" She asked shocked.

Jim nodded embarrassed. "I'm really sorry, he was pretty sad and wouldn't let me stop him"

She nodded as she put a hand on Jack's golden hair and brushed it. "He did this the other day, and when he woke up I thought he just got a flu"

She now swept her son's cheeks with the back of her hand. "I'm really sorry if he gave you any problems last night"

Jim shook his head. "He didn't" He affirmed.

"I don't understand him sometimes, James. Lately I feel he is so distant from our family"

Jim didn't know what to say or do. The guys in the team said something like that the day before. A knot tightened in his stomach.

"I'm so happy you're here to guide him. I'm sure you will help him come back to the right path"

_Me? That should be Bev's job._

"I have to go" She said standing up at last. "Take care of him, okay?"

"I will" He promised.

She walked to the door and closed it at her back.

"Is she gone?" Asked Jack suddenly.

Jim jolted and tuned to him.

Jack opened his eyes slowly.

"Did you listen to her?"

Jack nodded.

"She is worried about you"

"I'm fine, I just don't want to go home just yet"

"Why?"

"I got…Many pictures of her and the kids in my room. I'm no ready to see them, I just can't"

Jim sighed. "Are you hungry? Your mom brought breakfast"

Jack shook his head.

"You have to eat"

"I couldn't sleep last night, maybe now I'll be able to do it, just let me be, okay?"

"Aren't we going to the funeral?"

"I would rather not, but I can't do this to her"

Jim bit his lip. "We better get ready then, we still need to figure out what are we going to do about Amanda"

"What about her?" Jack frowned.

"She was her best friend, Jack"

Jack sat. "They got a grief counselor to the center yesterday"

"Maybe we should try to find a new place for her"

"Do you think it's a good idea?"

"She can't just stay there, just look at you, you can't even stand the idea of going to your home because of the pictures, what about her?"

Jack's face paled. "You're right, I've been so selfish. I can't believe I forgot about her"

"It's okay, I think I got a suit that can you use, let's get ready" And said so they prepared to go to the cemetery.

Have you ever wondered how the world would end? Many people would say it will be because of a meteor, others that it will happen the day aliens come to our planet, scientists affirm the sun will explode and kills us all, Christians that Jesus will come back and judge us all. I don't know if they are right or wrong, I just know what Jim knew at that moment, and what he knew is that the world didn't end with an explosion, a tsunami or in a trail. The world ended the moment you had to carry a little casket to a grave.

He wasn't there with them, he wasn't doing it himself, but he could see it. He could see in the face of Emily's parents that their world ended the moment her heart stopped beating. It didn't matter how many time could pass, or if they ever get to smile again. He knew that they would never be same. He wouldn't either probably. Not after seeing her still in that coffin. People tend to say that when someone dies, they just look as if they were asleep. Is all lies. Emily looked like unfairness. She was so beautiful, with her ponytails made with blue laces, she loved blue. Jack always talked to the kids about the bible and heaven and while he did it, she kept looking up at the sky, hoping she could see an angel. Now she was one of them.

After heartbreaking speeches of her family and from Paige, the casket slowly started descending in the ground. Jack didn't let out a noise but Jim could feel how he was about to crumble in the floor again. He couldn't just act like nothing happened either, Jim was losing it again. When a tear streamed down his cheek he absently reached for Jack's hand and curled his fingers with his.

"What are you doing?" Jack whispered angrily yanking his hand back.

Jim cursed in his insides for being so stupid. Paid his respects to Emily's family without daring to look at them in the eye and walked back to his car.

"Why did you do that?" Jack demanded when they got inside.

"Why you keep coming back if you hate me so much?"

"I don't…Hate you, I just don't understand why you tried to hold my hand as if I…"

"I have feelings too you know? I need someone to comfort me too. She wasn't just your friend, I might have known her for less time than you, but I still loved her, and I don't have a James so stupid to hold me and tell me that everything will be okay regardless or the shitty way I treat him!"

Jack sucked a breath and he slowly glanced down while Jim turned on the engine. "I'm so sorry. I thought that…."

"I know what you thought" Jim said hurt. "And I don't understand why you're obsessed with it so suddenly, you used to be such a nice boy, you were kind to everyone, to every single human being no matter how they looked like and who they were"

Jack chugged. "I'm sorry, it's just hard for me you know? They told me my whole life that homosexuals were evil"

Jim scoffed and sniffed at the same time. "That's funny, cuz that's the same thing life taught me about heterosexuals"

Jack whipped his eyelids and looked up. "Can we talk this out with a drink?"

Jim would have said no for so many reasons he wouldn't know where to start, but…He needed a drink too.

They went that night to a more crowded bar that it would be helpful to ease their minds and calm them down. They talked for hours and hours, mostly about the team. Actually they almost laughed when they recalled the embarrassing situation they both starred the day before. Jack apologized by the way he treated him and Jim thank him for helping us the other day.

Speaking of that infamous night. Jack was pretty interested in what we were doing, and after Jim told him the exact events, omitting the fact that he almost had sex with a guy pretty alike to him, Jack gaped, balled his hands and said he wished they would have caught those bastards to get them in Jail. He also wanted to know how Jim met me and why we became best friends. Actually he asked a lot about me, how my movies were, what we used to do when we hanged out and why we pretended we barely knew each other in the forest.

Jim spent almost an hour answering those questions, mostly because he had to lie about almost everything to not expose ourselves and our project. Jim was fine enough with Jack not liking him much anymore for being gay, the last thing he wanted was to him discovering that he lied to him about not lying to him.

Jack got pretty drunk again that night, but at least he could walk, which was good for Jim, because that way he wouldn't have to drag him into his loft again. When they got inside Jim prepared some turkey sandwiches and forced Jack to eat them. It didn't matter how many times Jack refused and actually they almost had an arguing about it but in the end Jim smacked him in the head and he had to shut up and sat to eat.

Jim smiled bitterly while he saw sitting in the couch staring the lights of the city through the panoramic window.

"Do you need anything else?" He asked as he rose his hand to flick it and turn off the lights.

Jack shook his head. "I'm fine, thank you"

"Good night, Jack"

"Good night James"

Jim took off his shoes and went to bed. It was stupid you know? To even try to sleep. I think, that when this kind of tragedies happen, people lose the ability to sleep in months. Jim saw how it happened to Ash when her mom died in a car accident. She stopped eating and speaking for long time and by her morning looks he also knew that she didn't sleep.

Part of him wanted to just lay on his bed and let the rest of his life pass by. He knew he couldn't just do that. Jack was lost, he was like a big kid. He was used to have a bright beautiful life where everything always had a happy ending, but all that changed the moment Jim showed up. I'm not saying that Jim that what happened to Emily was his fault, but he felt responsible for how Jack changed since he met him, the decisions he made and everything else.

He also felt responsible because he loved him, and even when he didn't know how to deal with his own pain, he wanted to be there ease Jack's at his best, even when he knew that Jack wouldn't ever be his, even when he knew that he would marry Beverly and that she would never do something like that for Jack. He wanted to be that person. The one who stayed up till late listening to all his problems and have always a kind thing to say. The person who was there no matter what anytime Jack needed him. At least that way they would be together. Even if it was as just friends.

It was going to be a long night. Jim rolled to his side to face the door but something was blocking it, or better said someone.

"Jack…Are you…?"

"I quit" Jack muttered.

Jim wrinkled his brow with concern. "What are you talking about?"

"I called the coach when you were bathing this morning, I told him what happened and we both agreed that it would be the best if Kyle took the captaincy of the team"

Jim swallowed hard. Shit! This was his fault!

"I'm sorry Jacky"

"It's alright, I think is the best for all of us"

Jim didn't know what to say or do, he wasn't expecting this at all.

"Can I… Can I sleep with you?"

Jim froze and his heart slammed his chest. "I thought you said last night that…"

"I don't wanna be alone"

"Okay" Jim said nodding in the darkness.

Jack trudged to the bed and got inside. When Jim felt his weight in, he smiled bitterly. Just days ago he thought that not in a million years he would be in the same bed with Jack, and now here they were and Jim hated that whole situation.

"James"

Jim rolled to face Jack.

"Could you hold me?"

"What?"

"Just hold me, please"

Hesitantly Jim reached Jack's warm body and wrapped his arm around while the boy did the same with Jim's body until they were both pressed tight against each other.

Now Jim could hear a heartbeat loud and clear, he couldn't tell if it was his or Jack's but he wouldn't dare to broke off, he felt if he did, they both would fall apart in a million pieces and when they were broken, there wouldn't be anyone to get them back together.

"Promise me you won't die before I do. I couldn't bear to…"

"I can't promise you that"

"You have no choice. I never needed of anyone in my life before and then you showed up and messed everything the moment I realized that I couldn't live in a world where you don't exist"

Jim's guts squirmed, his heart lurched and a lump climbed to his throat.

"Promise it to me"

"I promise" Jim whispered softly and said so...After all the pain and the things they lived the past days. They finally felt fast asleep lulled by each other's heartbeat.

...

The frabjous day, aka Mr. Perry class' final, where everything should have ended but never happened.

I woke up with a knot tied in my guts and frightened butterflies fluttered in my chest. It wasn't because of the project, of course. I lost my chance remember? It was because something else. That Monday would be the end of the school year for Derek and for me. We still got to attend the rest of the week to get to know our grades and those stuffs, but it would summer officially right after we came out of the theater.

That's the reason I felt so uneasy.

Kyle said he could come at noon to my dorm, and I didn't know what to text back. I didn't want to see him right then. I was scared of what I might do or say. He gave my space to think carefully what I was going to tell him, and actually…I lost my time fooling around with Derek. I didn't know what excuse or lie to say and the idea of telling the truth made me feel sick.

I had to be strong. I owed an explanation to Kyle and…Thousands of apologies to one Derek Hale.

I stretched things too long and I just couldn't let that be. The beginning of summer would also mean that Derek and I would go back home to visit our parents, we would probably get summer jobs to keep our minds busy and won't be able to see each other much, and that's the thing. If Derek and I just split after the massive wall of constant disappointments and pain I erected between us, he would eventually grow tired of me, bit a bit we would become just different persons and by when our final year started, I would have lost him forever.

I needed to talk to him, I needed to say how much I regret it the way I treated him, and also…Another thing that made my heart quiver everything time I thought about it.

I had to be strong though, it was time to face my demons and accept my defeat. The problem is that I woke up pretty late that Monday,. It was his fault for making me watch that bunch of movies until late night. I couldn't believe he wasn't in the room when I woke up, I mean, the last thing I remember from that night is that my eyes were almost closed when he closed the last movie and instead of getting in bed he opened the post-production software.

I came out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a bath and brush my teeth. When I got back to my room I found out that he hadn't cook. I could understand that. He had to be pretty concerned and busy with his movie. Damn! That could have been me. I shook my head and checked my phone. The displaying started half an hour ago, and since the movies previews for the audience would last only twenty minutes it meant that there was still a big chance that his movie hadn't been on the screen yet.

I didn't want to go to the theater, I mean, what could be more humiliating than going to the place where my movie should have been displayed? It was hard, but Derek had done harder things for me in the past and right now he needed support. I just couldn't let him down right that day.

I chugged with chest throbbing and came out of our room. It was almost summer, which meant that most of the students were already in the campus fooling, chortling, having a good time and forgetting of how crappy the year was, and even when not everybody passed or got high grades everyone celebrated.

The theater was packed, there was a large crowd outside peeking through the gap in the door to see the movies. Of course there wasn't enough room for everyone and it was almost for sure that I wouldn't find a place to sit, but if I was lucky maybe Missy would have saved one for me as usual in the middle of her and Derek.

When I got inside maybe ten or twenty necks craned and followed me. They weren't my class mates, but students from other careers. I heard whispers and managed to make out what some of them were saying. They thought I was going to present a movie. That hurt me a bit and I wished it was true. When I passed next to the steps the movie that was being displayed ended and I saw Brandon and Tara's with bold white letters in the screen.

People rose from their seats and started clapping. I took my change to climb the stairs looking for Derek. I checked every row and each face, but…He wasn't there. Why? Where was he?

"We will take a ten minutes to check the acoustic before continuing" I heard Mr. Perry's voice say followed by a screeching sound that made me jolt.

"Missy!" I called aloud when I spotted her in her usual place in the last row. I dashed up.

"Stiles!" She said with concern. "Where's Derek? His movie is the next"

"I…I don't know" I said confused. "He was gone when I woke up, I thought he was here"

"He was" She nodded. "He gave his disc to Mr. Perry before Brandon's movie started, but I don't know what happened to him"

Shit! I tugged out my phone and started dialing up his number while I ran downstairs and pushed the people at the door out, was something wrong with his movie? Was it my fault that he couldn't finish it at time?

"Stiles!" I heard his voice say with relief.

I turned on my heels and found him coming straight to me with a grin on his face. "You came! I was looking for you and when I didn't find you I thought…"

"I wouldn't let you alone in something as important as this" I affirmed.

He snorted pleased. "Look, before we get in I want to give…."

I shook my head. "No, Derek" I whispered taking him by the arm to move to a more private place. "You're always looking out for me and my needs. This time, it isn't about me. It is about you and what's going on with your life"

"What are you talking about?" He chortled.

"That I've been a shitty friend Derek. I acted like crazy the past six months, and I want to say that I'm really sorry for everything I did"

He wrinkled his brow.

"You have always been there for me, and I paid you by keeping secrets, by using you for my plans without your consent, by kissing your girl and treating you as shit"

"Stiles…"

"Let me finish please, I need to say before it's too late" I begged. "I did so many awful things to you that I don't know where to start or if I would end someday of enumerating them, especially when I said that you were jealous of me. I can't believe I actually said that. I promise I never meant it, I just was mad and wanted to say things to hurt you, but we both know it isn't true, you're a kickass director, people loves your movies, I love them and I know that today you'll kick everyone's asses"

I sucked a breath and swallowed the lump in my throat. "What I'm trying to say is that even when I wasn't the best friend in the past, I promise I'll be it from now on, and that I'll never let you down again, no matter what happens"

"I was jealous of you" He admitted looking away.

What? No! It was a lie! "No! Derek…There is no reason you should feel jealously, just look at me, I not that good looking, my movies aren't that good, and half of the school hates me because they think I destroyed my laptop on purpose just to call everyone's attention"

He chuckled. "I don't care, they can think whatever they want, but in the end we now that someday they will be crying your name aloud, asking you for autographs and chances to work with you"

"That's not true! I…"

"Hey you two! What the hell are you doing? Your movie is about to start!" Missy yelled at our backs.

Derek and I jolted and spun to run after her, but then I stopped short and grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait, one last thing"

"Stiles…"

"Just a second, I promise"

He rolled his eyes.

"About the way I yelled at you for moving out with Allison…I just want to say that…I'm sorry, I've been selfish and I want you to know that I'm totally fine with the idea now, I won't stop you or tell you to fuck off or anything. I'm happy for you to taking that big step and wish you both the best" If Allison wasn't lesbian of course. ¡Crap! This was a mess.

Derek chugged and scratched his chin. "Where did you get that idea?"

"I heard Allison telling Kristie about it"

"Well, you obviously ruined the surprise" He chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not going anywhere Stiles! I had no idea of what you were talking about that day in the party"

My heart stopped short. "I thought…."

"That's the problem!" He said between a grunt and a chuckle. "You think too much and never stop talking!"

Oh crap! I felt so embarrassed! What the hell? They weren't going to move out? "But…"

"If what you say is true, I guess she's going to tell me by the beginning of third year, and now I'm gonna have to find a way to look surprised, I'm a crappy actor, thank you so much"

"Oh my god I'm so sorry! Anyway, I meant what I said…"

"Guys!" Missy yelled.

"I want you to be happy, and if…"

"I'm not going anywhere Stiles, do you really think I'm gonna leave you alone considering how easy you get your ass in trouble?"

I blinked and shook my head. "Derek…You just can't…You just can't stay with me because…"

He grinned. "I'm kidding, I know you can take care of yourself, I'm just messing with you, actually things have been weird between Allison and I, lately"

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"I don't know, I feel like she is distant and kind of mad all the time, and I just don't understand. Who knows what is going on with her? But for now I wouldn't take a big step like that blindly, until we are sure of our feelings for each other"

"So…" I said to resume. "You're not moving out?"

"See? You never listen to me" He laughed. "I've been trying for hours to tell you that I got a present for you"

A present? "Yeah? Where is it? Why did you…?"

"Guys!" Missy roared.

"We're coming!" We shouted at once and the people at the door looked at us startled and then cracked in laughs.

Derek and I blushed and hurried to get in.

We followed Missy upstairs and sat with her in the places Catelyn saved for us. The lights went out and I looked at Derek expectantly. He grinned and we both looked at the screen that at that very moment turned fully black.

It was all dark for a minute or two. We couldn't see anything but some disturbing and little shapes that squirmed in silence. There was an explosion and the sound of something being sucked accompanied by a sweet and heartfelt melody that made me feel uneasy and frightened.

Two kids holding hands, the sky, the clouds, the sound of the wind, grass waving, two swans and an orchestra playing the violin. Flashes, grownups holding hands. A park, kids flying in the swing. A dark room where you could see a single cocoon trapped in time. We saw it squirm at high speed as if it was in agony. The music intensified and my chest throbbed and tears leaped through my eyes. I understood now what his documentary.

The cocoon started cracking. Fireflies came from all directions and then it was free. A butterfly stretched its wings for the very first time since it died as a caterpillar and now many and more of them did the same and all flew free as the music stopped for a brief minute and then came back harder and sadder synchronized with the fluttering of their wings.

I gasped and put a hand on my mouth, it was so beautiful.

The couple was now older. They were in the same park they met when they were kids and this time her belly was huge.

The screen went dark again and we could hear steps, screams, the muffled voice of a man and then, without any warning a vagina a very big and frightening swollen vagina that stretched bigger and bigger as blood started pouring out of it while something else approached.

He filmed a birth! For real!

We heard her yells and the child's first cry. It was something thrilling and wonderful. The doctor held him high so Derek could film they boy's face and then screen went dark and the music stopped.

"Life" I read in the screen when it was over.

"Derek…" I whispered shocked as I stood and people did the same applauding very loud.

I looked at them amazed and happy and then I saw that the name of the movie was replace by something else.

"A movie by Stilinski Stiles and Hale Derek"

No…He…No, he couldn't.

The pats in the back, they were literally making me choke and lose my breath. This was…This was the movie he had been working the whole year! It was the reason he always got late to the screen writing course, and disappearing on Sundays. He worked in his masterpiece and put his soul on it…To later…Give his baby to me.

"No!" I said aloud. "Why did you do that?" I said angrily.

Derek spun and faced me. "We're a team, remember?"

My heart stopped beating when I heard those words. As I told you before, Derek was my rock but also was…The biggest idiot in the world! He shouldn't have saved me! God! I hated him! Why? Are you asking yourself why?

Just take a look at it.

Others were surrounding and congratulating him, but the crowd around him was pretty smaller than the one asphyxiating me. It wasn't fair.

"It wasn't me! It was Derek!" I said over and over, but no one listened to me. Everyone was too busy saying how amazing and heartbreaking my movie was, that didn't let me explain to them that it wasn't my movie.

Mr. Perry called to another pause because there were still some issues with the acoustic and we started climbing down. I came after him, I tried to tell him the truth, but he wouldn't listen and when I was about to yell at him that he was a stupid geezer that was getting deaf over the years Derek took me by the arm and dragged me out of the theater.

"Why did you do that?" I demanded ignoring the guys from econ that came to say hi.

"Why you are so upset?"

"Because you shouldn't have saved me!"

"Stiles come on! Chill out, I just helped you to not fail the class that's all"

"Yeah, but look at them! They loved the movie and they think it was my idea, it isn't fair! You deserve the glory, not me"

He chuckled. I swear I hated him.

"Its fine Stiles, I just couldn't let you down and since the guys in the store couldn't do anything for your laptop, I just couldn't…"

I paled. "They couldn't do anything uh?"

He shook his head. "They say it was pretty much dead, but those morons didn't even opened it, the hard disk was untouched and they didn't bother to check it"

"What's the matter if the rest is dead?"

He rolled his eyes. "Stiles, the hard drive is where you save all your files"

"So…"

"I took it out this morning after they told me to buy a new laptop" He explained shoving his hands in his pockets to draw a gray rectangle not bigger than his palm. "All your files are in, including your project, I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner, I had the hope that they…"

"Derek!" I said breathless. "Derek!" I jumped over him and hugged him. "You saved my files! You saved my files!"

He nodded with a grin. Of course it didn't matter, I wouldn't have a change to mix everything and burn an incomplete movie in two or three hours. But I couldn't help smiling, because he worked so hard for something he didn't even believed in, just to make me happy.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you" I repeated to not stop. "You're the best friend anyone could have"

He snorted. "I can't believe you didn't have a backup of something this important Stiles, you could have lost all your hard work, and not just your project, but your scripts, and pictures, what the hell were you thinking?"

I let him go and looked down embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'll get another hard drive one just in case"

He shook his head. "There is no need, I already synchronized this one with my cloud account"

"What that's supposes to mean?"

"That every time you film something, it will go straight to my cloud in the internet, that way you won't have to worry about any more about accidents"

Oh my god! Who was I without him? Nothing, and it only made me feel worse that I spoiled his chance to be below the spotlight, everyone thought that his movie was mine and I felt like shit because of it, especially because of the bit of the relief in my chest of not having to take Perry's class again next year.

"Derek, I don't know where to…"

"Stily!" I heard Kyle's voice at my back and I jolted. No! Not yet please!

"Um….Hey Kyle"

"Do you have a minute?" He asked.

I turned to look at Derek and then at him.

"Yeah, I was just leaving" Derek hurried to say sternly and in a blink he was gone.

Shit!

"I…" I started dazed.

"Congratulations" Kyle said with a grin.

I shook my head and then snapped. "You were there?"

He nodded. "I made you signs for hours, but you didn't even look at me"

"I'm sorry, anyway, the movie wasn't mine. Derek just put my name on it to save my ass"

He wrinkled his brow.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking, another lie with my sign on it"

"Why are you so mad at me?" He grunted.

"I'm not mad at you" I affirmed.

"Then why you have been avoiding me all this time? I was concerned about you!" He said furiously and then focused his eyes on mine. "It looks like its healing"

I nodded and he glared at me.

"So?" He urged me.

"I just thought you were mad at me!" I explained with sadness and then I noticed it, I was sad by the idea of losing Kyle. It was too late for me. I had fallen.

"You're right! I'm mad at you! For not answering my texts or picking the calls, for pretending to be someone you're not just because you're scared"

"I'm sorry, okay? I just…I just thought that if you knew that I…"

"I always knew Stily!"

Oh…..C-R-A-P. BUSTED

"What…What do you…?"

"I mean…When I met you, I kind of had the feeling that you might be gay, but… I never told you anything about it because I thought it would be rude in case you didn't want people to know, but then you showed up with Allison and I was like 'what the hell?' But we hanged out together and I thought that maybe I was just wrong, you guys looked so happy together"

So…In resume, Kyle had a gaydar. _You can't have a gaydar! It's something that comes in the gays' package, you can't just get one in a store or anything like it! _

"I'm sorry about that" I chugged. "I just thought that you wouldn't like to hang out with me anymore, if I didn't show up with a girl in your place that day"

He arched a brow. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard, why I wouldn't like to hang out with you? You're the coolest person I've ever known"

I blinked and swallowed. "So…You don't mind I'm gay?"

He chuckled rolling his eyes as he put an arm around my shoulder and pressed tight against his side while we walked out of the theater's entrance. I felt his breath brushing the hairs in the back of my neck, making them stand still and making me shiver.

"Stily, how I could be mad at you or mocking about you for being gay? I'm in the acting program remember? Just because of being on it, people already assumes that' I'm gay!" He chuckled.

I stopped short and looked at him embarrassed.

"Stily! I've been bullied my whole life for being gay, even when I'm not, I couldn't ever hate you or think wrong about you just because of it"

Oh crap! I felt like an asshole now. More than ever I couldn't tell him the truth about the video, it would be so hard and awful! I wouldn't forgive myself if he ever knew the truth.

"Thank you" I said turning to hug him. "Thank you for saving me and for being the coolest guy in the world"

"Yeah, I bet I'm gonna get an award for it one day" He joked as he broke off. "Speaking off, I got something for you"

Really? Him too? Oh I got the best friends in the world! What he could have got me?

He shoved his hands in his pockets and drew out a sheet of paper folded. He tended it to me and I frowned.

I took it on my hands and unfolded it puzzled. "What is it?"

"The application for the winter's festival" He explained happily. "Hadn't you forget don't you? Today is the last day, they are waiting in the conference room until three"

Wow! I forgot about it long time ago, but he…He reminded it for me! "I don't know…I don't have anything in mind right now" I admitted. "I don't even have a laptop anymore"

"It doesn't matter, you can get summer job and buy a new one, and I can get some money borrowed to…"

I shook my head. "It's okay, Kyle"

"Come one Stily! It's your big chance, you have all the potential in the world to win that thing, I see it in you, everyone can see it, you're not like others, you have vision, you will do great things one day, I'm sure of it"

I held my breath.

He came behind me and started pushing me to the right, where conference room awaited just feet away.

"Come on! Move I'll drag you!" He threatened.

"Okay, I'm coming" I chuckled. "Maybe…I could try to shoot Damiantia" I said thoughtful.

"What is that?" He asked con interest.

"It's just a script I've been…"

"Oh wait! Jack's there!" He said shocked. "I have to talk to him, I'll be back Stily, go and finish you're application and we will meet here, okay?"

I nodded and Kyle dashed toward Jack and I squinted, it was me or Jack looked….Broken? Kyle patted him in the back and said a few words and then they sat in the shadow of a thick Oak.

What could have happened? I stepped ahead blinking and someone blocked my vision.

"Wow! You look like crap!" I said shocked looking at Jim.

"I feel worse, believe me" He replied wryly.

"What happened to you?" I asked startled, it wasn't just his swollen eye, or the bags below them, his stare was so hard to look at.

"Life" He muttered.

"Wait…Did something happened between Jack and you?"

He shook his head.

"Don't lie to me betch, I just saw him and he looked like he just came out of a funeral"

"That's because we just did" He muttered sharply.

My heart lurched. "What? Why? What happened?"

"Long story, actually, I don't wanna talk about it oaky? Where is he? He drank too much last night and I don't want him to get in trouble, he has been pretty bad lately"

_I don't' want him to get in trouble? _I repeated in my mind. Crap! There was definitely something going on between those two! But I couldn't just say something, Jim looked pretty sad, angry and exhausted.

"He's over here" I said confused looking at the Oak where they were just seconds ago.

Jim followed me, but I kept moving my head to the side trying to find them, but I couldn't. When we reached the Oak we heard their voices, they were at the other side. The trunk was so thick that that was why I couldn't see them from the angles. I couldn't believe the four of us were about to share a conversation, after everything that happened and that Jim and I pretended we didn't know each other, but we stopped because Jim's name popped in their conversation and we couldn't help stopping and eavesdropping.

"Is just that… I can't get use to the idea" Jack said with sadness.

"But it is something he can't control Jack, he is your friend, he is the one who has been there for you always since he got in the team"

Jim and I exchanged glances.

"You're right, but…I think…I think he is in love with me" Jack said with dread.

Kyle chuckled. "You think he is in love with you, so what?"

"It's kind of scary, you know?"

"Jack, I don't think James is in love with you, I don't think you're his type"

"What that supposes to me?" Said Jack a bit offended.

"James is like…An ass sometimes you know? And you're like a very nice person, I think he would feel attracted to someone more like him, if you know what I mean"

"Like Aidan? He said he rather tanned"

"You think Aidan is gay too?" Kyle chuckled. "I always thought that from the moment I saw him"

"So…James is in love with Aidan?"

"Maybe…I don't know, they look pretty close"

There was a silence and then Kyle spoke again.

"But…Do you…."

"What?" Asked Jack sternly.

"Jack…Do you have feelings for…"

"NO!" Jack said angrily. "How can you even say that?"

"What's the matter?" Kyle grunted. "Listen! There is nothing wrong with being gay"

Jim and I looked at each other again. His face grew darker while my smiles enlarged.

"It's hard to believe when you have been told your whole life that is something evil"

"I know Jack, but you have to get over it. James was the person who looked after you these days, yeah I know. Kristie called your sister yesterday and she told us you were staying at his place"

"Yeah, but what if he did all that just because he is in love with me?"

"What if he is in love with you? Just tell him you don't feel the same way about him"

"Yeah, that's what you're going to do if Stiles tells you that he loves you?" Jack defied.

There was another silence but this one was shorter. When Kyle spoke again, I could feel a tiny change in his tone. "I don't know man, that would suck you know?"

I gaped.

"I mean, I like Stily and he is cool, but it would be hard for me to accept he has feeling me, I mean they can't just accept a friendship? Why they always want something else?"

What?

"I don't think he looks at me that way, but if he just wants to find a way to get into my pants, well I'm sorry dude, if he want to mess around with me, I'll play his game, but I won't take any responsibility when he ends up heartbroken, and you shouldn't either"

Jim and I squatted at the same time. None of us knew what to do or say, it was so…Fucked and painful…I thought…We thought…

"Guys! Gusy!" Cass brought us back to reality.

"I'm sorry" I said focusing my eyes and looking at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Liam told us to come here, he said he wanted to show something to us"

I blinked. "Is he okay?"

"I think so, he sounded fine" Tim affirmed.

"Casden! What are you doing here man?" Said a voice and we all turned.

Swindel's face went changed from joy to a mocking grin when he saw me.

"Let's go" Craig said to him without even daring to look at us.

What? I stopped short, didn't know what to do or say. I just…

"Betches! I've been looking for you all, I thought you would be in Stily's room" Liam's voice said from behind.

We turned again. There he was…Smiling at us.

"Are you okay?" Jim and Freddy asked at once.

Liam nodded. "Anthony is coming out of the hospital in a couple of days, he is way better now"

The betches grinned, but I wasn't paying attention, mi mind was back with Kyle, Jack Swindel and Craig. "Stily!" Cass shook me.

"Sorry what?" I frowned.

"They video, sweetie. I came here to show it to you guys"

"What video?" I said confused.

Liam beckoned down with his eyes and I glanced at the tablet in his hands.

He tapped the play button and I saw a guy facing us with a stern look. It took me a minute to recognize him without the makeup and the wig, but it was Charlamaine, there was no doubt of it.

"I'm making this video, because I'm indignant of what our society has become" He started pressing his lips in a thin line.

"According with some disturbing statics, one of eight lesbians gets raped every year, one of two bisexual persons get raped in their life. Fifty percent of bisexual women are raped before they are eighteen, forty seven perfect of bisexual men are victim of sexual violence. Forty percent of gays are victims of sexual violence and fifty percent of trans women are victims of both"

He made a pause and dried a tear that leaped through his right eye.

"Two days ago, a boy who made Drag for a show in a night club of the city was victim of sexual violence and rape. He is just eighteen years old. I'm not going to say his name to protect him and his family, though it wouldn't matter since they kicked out of his home when he was sixteen. The two most victimized persons in this country are black women and Trans people and of course my friend was just doing drag, but I think we can fit this aggressing in the category of transphobia, since his attackers expected to find something else below his dress when they raped him"

The betches and I held our breath.

"They cracked his head, and he almost died. Luckily he is alive and the scars will fade out eventually, but not the emotional ones. I'm gonna ask you to ask yourself if you have children if you're doing the best to protect them. Do you had ever beat them, slap them or humiliated them for having a different conduct from the society's standards? Would you be coward enough to kick your baby to the streets just because is not the person you expected them to be? Where is the love and mercy all churches boast themselves about when they kick a homeless teen out of their shelter just because of his or her sexuality?"

I gaped and my heart lurched.

"Where are the laws, when our community helped to find the bastards who did that to my friend and they were given probation freedom under the allegation of the abuse of drugs and that they were supposedly provoked by my friend? Where is the justice?"

"Why the police closed the club in its opening night for two months after what happened just because my friend came out of it but the club from where just bastards came out is till open? Do you really think that this is nineteen sixty eight? Do you really think that we do our pride parade just to amuse you? It is a day for us to remind the fierce fight, and the victims of Stonewall. Is the date we recall the we're still very far in our fight for rights, if it wasn't for those brave souls I wouldn't be here right now telling you this, but…Things like what happened two days ago, proves that nothing have changed much"

I swallowed.

"But I'll tell this, we will keep fighting, for the rights we deserve, and for justice to put my friend's attackers in the place where they belong"

"You call us freaks, monsters, faggots, fairies, sissies and so many other awful things" Another tear fell. "But today I want you to go to the mirror and stare at your reflection and think about my friend, think if it was fair for him to be kicked out of his home, if it was fair that church didn't let him come inside their community center, if it wasn't enough that he had to lie about his age to get a work in the only place where he was protected and loved and if after all the things he lived he deserved what happened to him. When you're over, look at your eyes in the mirror and ask yourself who is the real monster here" He swallowed and the video ended.

It had near a million of visits and support comments. People was angry and hurt for what happened, well. Most of them because…There was a comment that said. "I looked at myself in the mirror and guess what? He deserved it for being a faggot"

I blinked once, twice, thrice. The sun was shining so bright and blinding. I couldn't see a thing, just whiteness and faces. I spun and saw Kyle and Jack. At the left the twins. A guy that joked with his friends, celebrating the end of the school year. A law's student. Isaac, the reason I hurt myself. I saw my wrists and saw my scars. They hadn't heal. They never did, actually, I could swear the wounds were still open, I could swear that they still poured blood out. The world was full of horrible human beings.

"Stily!" They were saying.

"Stily!" Their voices were muffled by a buzzing in my ear.

I gasped.

"Stiles! Are you okay?"

I straightened helped by Cass. "They won't leave us alone, will they?"

"Stily…"

"Hip" I called sternly. "Do you think you can sleep with a hundred horrible human beings before the end of the year?"

He snorted and then I noticed he was right next to me. "Are you kidding? I could sleep with a thousand if that's what you want"

"Betch…What is going on?" Jim asked.

I glanced at my hands that gripped tight the hard drive and the application sheet.

"Don't you get it? It isn't over guys, actually this is just the beginning. People won't change, because we never fight back, because we let them do whatever they want with us. They almost raped Liam, they kicked the crap out of us, Cass lost his job, Tim believed that Craig was his friend and you heard Kyle and Jack. They want us to play. Well, we're gonna play and we will make them regret the they we met"

I was back, I made the mistake of falling into a void and believe that I could be submissive and soft.

"So? Are you betches with me in this?"

They all nodded. I asked Tim a pen and put the application over the hard drive. They surrounded my hand holding the pen with theirs and we went to the movie's name part in the sheet and we wrote "Horrible human beings"

We were done with games and silliness. I made the mistake of believing that my movie belonged to a class' final. Now, I was going to present my project in the winter film festival and since Kyle and Jack knew now that we were gay, the rules of the game have changed, but it didn't matter. we would adapt and fight back as we have been doing for centuries. It was time to get our hands dirty.

Next December, everything was going to change.

Well, this diary ran out of pages, so…I think I'll see in what takes me to get to the store and snatch a new one, and don't worry, I'll clear all the questions you got in mind, like what happened to Smithy. From where Mrs. Whittemore and Jim knew each other –You will laugh your ass out with that one- If Allison and Kristie were lesbians or not, and just to tease you a bit yeah, this time my project made it to the big screen.

Next on Horrible Sweet Revenge (2015)

"Third and final year, I hope you're ready for challenges, because if you want to succeed in this career you will have to learn how to work under pressure"

"I know about the kiss"

"Stiles, please don't tell Derek"

"Who's that guy?"

"That's Elliot Arkwright, he is the best actor in Oakwood"

"Who the bloody hell I must sleep with to get the leading role?"

"I'll never give you the part"

"Wanna bet?"

"What did you just do?"

I understood know why Smithy had been following me all that time and holy shit!

"What is he doing here?"

"What are they doing here?"

Damn!

"You will do great things Stiles, I'm sure of that"

"Kyle what are you do….?"

"Stay away from Derek you hear me?"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU STILES!"

"Ha! I would like to see that, Jacky!"

"Congratulations, you're a slut"

"I'm not like you"

"Keep saying it that until you believe it"

"Derek please let me…"

"I don't wanna see you ever again in my life"

Do you remember what I said about feeling like being the epicenter of the apocalypse? Well, Ha! It was the end of the world as we knew it and all because of me.

Well this is all for now, thanks for everything I'll see you next year, please recommend me some fun frat movies (I want to write another Judas game) See ya Betches!


End file.
